The Double

It was raining outside Steven’s apartment window at 2:51 AM. There was lightening and thunder and the works as the autumn night’s peace was disturbed by a thunder storm. The seasons were changing and as change goes, it causes some unwelcome events as well. Steven was in his bed, asleep with the television on a Christian network. That is how Steven gets to sleep at night, he turns off all the lights and put the television on a 90 minute sleeper. Steven did not go to bed until about 2:00 AM, because of business to take care of at ADOC.

Steven is usually the last to leave the HQ every night to lock up and to make sure there aren’t any stowaways in the area. However, Steven wakes up suddenly with the television still on. He sits up on the bed and gives out a sigh of depression. He knows that Angel had died a few weeks ago in Austria after Zach Cupp tortured her to death. He grieves that he ever had feelings for her. Then he thinks about how Shannon Smith, the two bit double agent who double crosses him, almost costing his life. He is deeply sad, and often has to go to God with his problems. However, tonight was not the right time in his mind. He feels dirty and down for no apparent reason. He feels that tonight, he is alone.

Steven climbs out of bed and puts on some blue jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and boots. He grabs his keys from his night stand and lock the door as he passes out of it. He walks down the stairs and gets into his Monte Carlo, starts it, and drives off down the Bypass in St. Louis going toward downtown where the St. Louis Arch is.

He listens to the radio and hears some Christian music as he always does when he is in his car. He even sings along to it. Steven is not tonight. He is tired, and he is depressed about some of the events that had accumulated the past month and a half.

Steven gets off the bypass and goes down a side street to his friend’s Todd’s house who is asleep. He rolls up to the driveway and parks and gets out. He begins to get sickening feelings as he rings the doorbell. After a while of ringing the doorbell, Todd answers the door.

"Steven? You do not look well. Come inside," demands Todd.
Steven slowly walks into Todd’s house and sits on the couch. Todd, dressed in his boxers with a robe around him stumbles into the kitchen and pours some hot chocolate into a cup for Steven.

"How are you, Steve?" asked Merriam, Todd’s wife.

"Could be better," he replied not looking at her.

Merriam sits on the chair that is sitting next to the couch which the half wet Steven is sitting on. Todd walks in and hands Steven a cup of hot chocolate and sits next to Steven.

"So," said Todd with kindness, "what brings you here?"

Steven shakes his head a bit in frustration, sips his hot chocolate and replied in a moaning tone, "I cannot do it anymore, Todd. I cannot stand to be alone and work at a job that demands so much out of me. I have no support from a wife or anything. The only chance was Angel, but now that punk Zach Cupp, who I wish I could just kill right now killed."

"I see," said Todd. "I am terribly sorry that you feel that way. Is there anything that we can do to help?"

"I just need your prayers," he said.

Todd and Merriam look at each other in remorse. Todd looked at Steven and replied, "You know, I feel for you. I have the same things happen to me whenever I go away from my family for long periods of time. I feel like if I die, my family will not survive. I am just as worried and as sick as you are."

"However," said Steven with grief, "you do not have the constant insecurity of having to live alone in the dark all the time. You have a wife and kids, and I used to have a wife, and my child never knew me. My life is ruined."

"Steven," said Todd looking at Steven, "you know, I think you need a little time off. Your life is not ruined, if it was so ruined, then why did you save so many lives through the two years you were serving ADOC? This job is hard, and I went through similar things. I do remember you telling me, after you tested out Roy’s combat simulation that you hated it when I died. I still think you are suffering from civilian withdraw."

"So, what should I do?" asked Steven.

"I will request Paul that you take a week off or so," said Todd. "So that you may be able to get back onto your feet."

Steven nodded his head and made a half smile.

"Oops," said Todd, "I see a little smile in you."

Steven shook his head in joy and replied, "Thank for the support."

The agent got up, put down his half-drank cup of hot chocolate.

"I must be going now," said Steven. "I have a long day ahead of me."

"Oh, no you are not mister," said Merriam bringing in some blankets from the other room. "You are staying here tonight. It is far too cold and far to dark for you to drive in this weather."

"Yah," said Todd, "what she said. I will wake you in the morning."

"Well," said Steven. "Could you at least bring me back some clothes from my house?"

Todd nodded. "I’ll be right back."

Todd went out the door.

Merriam said goodnight, turned off the light in the living room and went upstairs just as Todd drove off.

***

"Hey, Steven," yelled Todd getting Steven off the couch.

Steven sat up on the couch.

"Hey, buddy," said Todd. "You have an hour to get to work. My bathroom is upstairs."

Steven nodded and went upstairs to the bathroom, where his clothes were hanging on a hook next to the shower. Steven took off his clothes and jumped into the shower and washed himself, and cleaning his hair. He let the water run down his face and down his body. Then he turned off the water, dried himself off, and got dressed.

He ran downstairs. "In here, Steven," said Merriam from the kitchen.

Steven walked into the kitchen and saw three plates with eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice and a piece of ham.

Steven sat down at the table. "Thank you," said Steven.

"My pleasure," said Merriam. "I sure hope you like it."

"I am sure I will," replied Steven. "Todd tells me that you are an excellent cook."

Merriam blushed and smiled.

Steven took a bite of his bacon, and then he took a bite of his eggs.

"Mhhhmmmm," said Steven. "This is probably the best eggs and bacon that I have ever ate."

"I am glad you like it," said Merriam.

"That is why I married her," said Todd jokingly.

"What premise is that?" asked Steven cheerfully.

"Well," said Merriam, "I guess I am at good at something."

Steven smiled and at some of his ham. Again, he loved it and commented on the taste.

He ate the rest of his food and drank his orange juice.

"Well," said Steven. "I feel much better now, and since last night, I feel that I have a better hold on life."

"Good," said Todd as he looked down at his watch. "Oh, crud, it is time to get to work."

Todd kissed Merriam and the two walked out of the door.

"Come again anytime you like, Steven," yelled Merriam.

"Sure," said Steven as he shut the door behind him.

***

The two agents soon arrived at ADOC and clocked in on time.

"Welcome, agents," said Paul as Steven and Todd walked into Paul’s office.

"Morning, Paul," said Steven who walked into his office.

"Good morning, sir," said Todd who also walked into his office.

Steven filed out paperwork about his missions and finished his final report on Zach Cupp and his hitmen.

Todd on the other hand was just doing nothing. When an agent has nothing to do, he usually helps Roy with weapon analysis and testing. Roy sent Todd, via network mail, a schematic of a new car that he is making. The car seems to be as an SUV design, however, it can be made to go up buildings, via a grappling hook and some strong suckers on the tires. He puts in his comments and then sends a note to Paul. The network mail read:

Paul,

This is Todd, and I am requesting, as a friend of Agent Steven Goodykoontz, that he needs a week off of work. He came over my house last night, in a depressive state, and has requested, as an inferior officer for a leave of absence.

Todd pushes the send button and in a matter of a few seconds get a reply,

Request granted. Please call Steven into my office.

"Steven," said Todd to Steven. "Paul would like to see you in his office."

Steven agreed and walked into Paul’s office.

"Please sit down, agent," said Paul. "Agent Todd just sent me a network email and has informed me that you are in a depressive state. He also requested that you have a week off. I have agreed, because I know how important my men’s morale is. So, I would like it if you start your vacation right now."

"Thank you, sir," said Steven.

Steven got up and walked out of ADOC and got into his car in the car park. He started his car and drove away. Steven, happy and content with his break drove up to the parking lot next to his apartment, turned off his car and got out. He went up the stairs, unlocked his door and walked in. He took off his shoes and turned on his television and watched.

He ordered some Chinese food that arrived ten minutes later. Then he got a pop and sat in front of his television watching some comedy, ate his food and drank his pop. Later that day, however, he fell asleep in front of the television.

Hours later, the telephone rang. Steven woke up looking dazed. He looked at the beeping rainbow striped screen for a second.

Then the phone rang a second time.

Steven looked at his alarm clock at the end of his room, it said 12:30 AM. He got up for a and answered the phone.

"Hello?" asked Steven.

"Hello, Steven," replied a woman’s voice.

"Who is this?" asked Steven.

"Look out your window," demanded the voice.

Steven put down the phone on the table and went to his window. He pulled back the curtain. Then, a red laser light glowed on his chest.

Steven jolted back as a bullet burst through his window, and slammed right into his wall above his door.

Steven picked up the phone again and yelled into it, "WHO IS THIS?!!"

"Remember me?" asked the woman’s voice.

"No," replied Steven with anger.

"Your old friend, Shannon," she replied. "I am disappointed that you did not remember me."

"I killed you!" yelled Steven.

"That is what I led you to believe," replied Shannon. "But when you stabbed me, you missed my heart and you managed to not hit any organs or major blood vessels. I was able to stop the bleeding and get out before the building was destroyed."

"How?" asked Steven with fright. "The blast should have blown you away."

"Are you so dimwitted?" asked Shannon. "The bunker was designed to be destroyed like that. I managed to stay in the elevator shaft, which any idiot knows that it is the strongest part of any building. When the blast hit, I stayed in the elevator and managed to survive. I climbed out and got away."

"How did you find me?" asked Steven.

Shannon laughed in the phone. "Are you really that stupid?" she asked. "I am a former CIA agent. I have access to any and all files. I can hack any computer, steal information. I tapped into the ADOC computer system and found out your address. I thought that I pay you a little visit before I pay a visit to your other friends."

Steven stood there in anger.

"Oh," said Shannon with confidence, "I have planted a bomb in your two story apartment complex. This bomb has enough power to take out all this neighborhood. That means that you have about an hour to get out of the apartment complex and warn everyone of the bomb planted."

There was a pause for a few seconds.

"Now you have 59:56," said Shannon with confidence, "59:55, 59:54."

Steven slammed down the phone, slipped his shoes on and ran down to look for the bomb. The apartment complex that Steven took residence in consisted of three apartment buildings and there were at least ten houses around it. There were countless of children in the area, and elderly people and families that were in danger.

Steven ran outside and ran around his apartment building looking in each trashcan, dumpster and every mailbox. The time it took him to do that was about thirty minutes. When he was done, he stopped up at the stairway to his apartment. He thought for a second and ran up the stairs.

Steven picked up the phone and called into Paul’s office, hoping that he was still in at 1:00 AM.

"Hello?" asked Paul, who surprisingly was still there.

"PAUL!" yelled Steven. "I need a favor of yours."

"Can this wait, Steven?" asked Paul.

"NO!" yelled Steven. "There is a bomb in my apartment complex, and I need you to use your satellite to look for it so I can disarm it."

"What?" asked Paul in surprise. "Are you serious."

"Serious as a heart attack!" yelled Steven.

"Consider it done," said Paul.

In Paul’s office, Paul put in the co ordinance of Steven’s apartment. This took 10 minutes for the satellite to focus on it. Steven now had about 18 minutes to disarm the bomb.

Paul then switched the searching mode to inferred and he found the bomb buried next to the staircase to Steven’s apartment.

"Steven," said Paul on the phone. "The bomb is located on the right of the staircase to your apartment. It is buried. Please be careful. If you do not have enough time, get out!"

"Thanks, Paul," said Steven. He slammed down the phone and ran out of his apartment and found an altered part of the ground. He dug the bomb up. The bomb consisted of an alarm clock that showed the time. He clicked on the Alarm set button and found that he only had 15 minutes to disarm the bomb. The bomb had a latch on it. The agent pulled the latch and the bomb box opened up to a bunch wires. There was a red, white, green, gold and blue. He quickly followed each wire and he was able to see that the red, green and blue wires were just decoy wires to throw off any amateur bomb disarmer.

However, the white and the gold wires remained. He followed the gold wire to the left and the right. The wire was connected to a box on the right side, and on the left was connected to a switch box. He opened up the switch box. The switch in the box was white.

Then he quickly followed the white wire. The white wire was connected to a switch box on the right. He opened up the switch box and it was a golden color. Steven was confused. He did not see this kind of bomb before. He did not have enough time to study it, so he decided that he would cut the wire and cut the same color wire.

He started with the white wire. He put his wire cutters over it, but stopped. He scraped off the white of the wire. The color under the white of the wire was gold. So he decided to cut the wire while pushing the gold button. Then he did the same to the next wire. The time on the bomb stopped. The bomb lost power and died.

Steven picked up the bomb, got into his car, and drove to the ADOC HQ.

***

He barged into Paul’s office.

"Paul," said Steven.

Paul looked up at Steven.

"Yes?" asked Paul.

Steven put the disarmed bomb on the table.

"This is the bomb that Shannon Smith, the double agent who we thought was dead," said Steven.

"She is still alive?" asked Paul.

"She called me," said Steven. "She told me that she would blow up the whole neighborhood and me in it. She tried to shoot me through the window."

"I see," said Paul. "Did she say how she survived."

"It seems that when I stabbed her in the side, I missed all her vital organs and did not rupture or hit any major arteries," replied Steven.

"Strange," said Paul. "That was one lucky shot."

Steven nodded.

"Then take this bomb to Roy’s new assistant," said Paul. "His name is Patrick Jackson."

Steven nodded and took the bomb into Roy’s lab.

"Hello, newbie," said Steven as he walked in.

A small black man turned around while polishing a gun.

"Hi," replied Patrick.

Patrick was black, and he was totally bald. He likes to shave his head. He is about 6’ 3", a little overweight, and he has a single ear piercing on his left ear.

"I have a bomb that Paul wanted you to look at," said Steven.

"Bomb?" asked Patrick nervously. "Is it disarmed?!?!?"

"I disarmed it," said Steven. "It will not blow up now."

"Did you take out the explosive materials?" asked Patrick taking the dead bomb.

"No," said Steven. "I am sure that you have the skill to do it."

"Well," said Patrick. "at MIT, I was able to building and disarm bombs."

"Good," said Steven. "Can you tell me how this bomb was made?"

Patrick looked at it for a while, unscrewed some screws and studied every part for about five minutes. He took out a glass bottle of highly volatile and sensitive black powder.

"Strange," said Patrick. "You would normally see a few sticks of dynamite not a bottle of black powder. However, this stuff has been tampered with. It looks like it was coated in gasoline and hydroglicerine. This kind of explosive could take out a whole neighborhood and burn down some other buildings."

"That is what she said," replied Steven.

"Who?" asked Patrick.

"Shannon Smith," replied Steven.

"Oh," said Patrick, "the double agent who duped you."

Steven then seemed annoyed. "I guess," he replied.

"Well anyways," said Patrick. "The bomb seemed to be triggered by a timer. However, there were decoy wires to throw you off and the other wires were designed to make it explode, because the undercoats of the wires are the corresponding colors of the switches they are connected to. If you were to push the gold button and cut the gold wire, or even the white wire with the white button, it would explode. It was like she wanted you to disarm it, but hoping that you would make a mistake."

"She is a woman of many talents," said Steven. "She was from MIT, and she was trained to kill by the CIA."

"No wonder," said Patrick.

A few minutes later Paul walked into Roy’s lab. He walked up to Steven

"Steven," said Paul.

Steven turned around.

"I know you," said Paul. "You know more about her than any of the other agents," said Paul. "I give your permission to pursue and destroy. I want you to stay here. We have beds for you. I have some men to come by and guard this area from anyone trying to get in. In the morning, I will let you investigate this."

"Okay," said Steven.

Steven walked out and went to his office. He got on the computer and did some research. He typed in Shannon Smith in the United States Security Database. Two names popped up. One was Shannon Smith, and the next one was Heather Smith. When the pictures popped up, it seemed that the pictures were switched around. Heather Smith had Shannon Smith’s picture on it. Shannon Smith had a younger person on it. It said on each biography that Shannon and Heather Smith are sisters.

"What the?" asked Steven to himself.

He printed out the page and went onto the CIA website and put in Paul’s old code. He typed in Heather Smith. Just like the United State Defense Database, the pictures were switched. However, on this one, it said that Shannon Smith, who is actually Heather Smith recently changed her name to Shannon for unknown reasons.

Steven printed out that page and got onto his telephone. He dialed into the real Shannon Smith’s phone number that was directed to Las Angelas, California.

"Hello?" asked a voice on the line.

"Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Smith," said Steven, "my name is Steven Goodykoontz and I work for ADOC, American Department of Covert. I am investigating your sister, Heather Smith. Can you please give me some information?"

"Heather?" asked Shannon waking up. "She is my sister. What did she do?"

"She tried to assassinate me," said Steven.

"What?" asked Shannon. "She works for the CIA. She has credentials not to kill spies for the United States."

"Well," said Steven. "She tried to twice."

"What?" asked Shannon getting out of bed quickly. "Tell me about it."

"We have found that that about six years ago, she went missing," said Steven. "I trust you have heard about that?"

"Yes," replied Shannon. "However, she popped up in Austria six years after being lost."

"Yes," replied Steven. "However, she was never the same. She worked for a man named Zach Cupp, who brainwashed her. He with the help of one of his henchmen, Jermany Damien, was able to brainwash her and make her work for him."

"So," said Shannon. "My sister really has changed. I knew after she came home for Christmas after she was gone for so long she had changed. I have noticed a change in her demeaner. She talked about death more, and talked about the art of seduction and killing through that seduction."

"Only Jermany Damien could pull that off," said Steven.

"I understand," said Shannon. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Come to ADOC tomorrow," said Steven. "You can talk to Paul, and convince him to help me in my investigation."

"Okay," she said. "I will go tonight. I have a private plane."

"Thanks," said Steven.

"Okay," said Shannon and she hung up.

***

The next day, she arrived in the ADOC HQ. Steven came out of his office to see her sitting in Paul’s office.

"What is the meaning of this!?" asked Paul in anger.

"Don’t worry, Paul," said Steven. "This is the real Shannon Smith."

"I do not understand," said Paul.

Shannon looked at Steven. "I’ll explain," she said.

Steven nodded.

"Paul," said Shannon. "I am the real Shannon. I am, what you call Shannon Smith’s sister. Her real name is Heather Smith. She changed her name for some unknown reason. Steven merely asked me for help in his investigation. He brought me in, so that he can better understand the tendencies of my sister."

Paul nodded. "I understand," said Paul.

"We’ll be in the meeting room," said Steven.

"Okay," said Paul. "Debrief me when you both are done."

Steven nodded and the agent and Shannon walked into the meeting room.

Steven poured two cups of coffee, he gave one to Shannon and put one right in front of him.

"So," said Steven. "Tell me about your sister, Heather."

"I told you most of it last night," said Shannon sipping her coffee. She discouraged the coffee and put it down. "However, if you want to know the tendencies of my sister, she tends to be quite arrogant. She has been kind of arrogant when we grew up, and she still is kind of arrogant when she comes home for the holidays."

"What do you mean by arrogant?" asked Steven.

"Well," said Shannon touching her round chin, "she tends to go into situations with the mindset that she can take over and overcome the situation. That is probably the best way to beat her."

"Are there any other weaknesses?" asked Steven.

"She is quite small," said Shannon. "I know that my sister and I are about the same size, five foot two inches, so if you are able to overpower her, you can probably win."

"Now," said Steven. "With my last encounter with her, she is quite a fighter. She knows how to fight pretty well. She is not much of a good shot, hints last night when she missed me, when any experienced sniper could get."

"That is what I have heard from the CIA," said Shannon. "They never really let her out on field missions much, however, she is very smart and she can breakdown any kind of situation that she could. She could find any weakness and take advantage of that."

"State your source," said Steven.

"First off," said Shannon, "when we were younger, we played chess and checkers, she studied every chip and piece of mine on the board, anticipated my every move, and she won every game. So, do not underestimate her."

"I know that," said Steven. "She somehow was able to get out of the blast zone."

"Strange," said Shannon. "I cannot believe that she was so crafty that she was able to escape her own death. I guess you could call her a female Houdini."

Steven giggled a bit.

"Do you have an idea where she could be at?" asked Steven.

"Knowing my sister," said Shannon, "she could be at her house. However, her house would be an easy target, because it is in an open area where anyone could ambush easily. However, my sister liked to woods. She could hide in the trees and hide in the bushes. The woods that she liked the most were the woods next to our parent’s house. Since she could not be away from her mother for more than a year, I would guess she would be there."

Steven nodded. "It sure sounds plausible," he said. "But, we have to careful. She is in fact very crafty."

Steven got up, and so did Shannon. Steven extended out his hand and Shannon took it. Steven shook her hand.

"Thanks, Mrs. Smith," said Steven. "I know that I can trust your skills in eliminating this target."

"I am sure we can," replied Shannon with a smirk.

The two agents walked out of the meeting room and into Paul’s office.

"You have come up with a solution?" asked Paul.

"Yes," said Steven. "We have figured out that Heather, or who we call Shannon Smith, is in the woods of-" Steven looked over to Shannon. "What?"

"In Sacramento, California, in the Suburbs where there are a lot of wooded area around there," said Shannon.

"Good," said Paul. "Report to Roy’s office for suit up."

The two agents nodded and walked into Roy’s lab.

"Hello, agents," said Roy. He looked at Shannon. "You must be the real Shannon Smith."

"Yes, I am," replied Shannon. "My sister is the master of disguises."

"Well," said Roy. "I guess if I were younger, we could hook up and make one heck of a team."

Shannon shook her head.

Roy cleared his throat and continued. He took out two suits from his closet. The suits were wooded camouflage. One was smaller than the other. Shannon’s suit could give her protection from any kind of dangers out in the woods, such as rocks, sticks and rain. Steven’s was about the same, but heavier.

"These suits, agents," said Roy holding up the suits, "are designed for such terrain as wooded areas, and mountainous areas. These suits can protect against rocks, weather of any kind, except for tornadoes, hurricanes, and lightening, they can protect you from falling limbs, because of the helmet that it has, and best of all, it is camouflaged."

"Sounds great," said Steven.

Shannon nodded.

Roy handed them their suits and made them go into the dressing rooms to change. A few minutes later, the two agents got out and walked up to Roy, who was toying with a SPAS 12. Roy turned around to look at them.

"You both look good in them," Roy said.

"Thanks, Roy," replied Steven. "How long until Andy comes and gets us?"

"Soon," said Roy. "Paul called him in a few minutes ago, and he is getting his chopper ready as we speak."

"Do we have any special equipment, Roy?" asked Steven.

Roy picked up one item. It was like the old rappel gun.

"This rappel gun, agents," said Roy, "is a modified version of the old rappel gun that is standard issue for field missions. Except for one different attribute that I have made to it. Not only can you go up steep inclines and cliffs with ease, you can now latch onto trees and large logs. The hook on the guns have a sharper edge that can latch onto any kind of material, but it is also soft enough not to hurt any trees or plants. If you ever need to use the trees as a man to escape, you can rappel from tree to tree easily."

"Neat," said Shannon taking one of the rappel guns. "I am sure this will give us a decisive advantage."

"I hope so," said Steven. "The way that she was able to get away last time, I would say that we would need any kind of help that we could get."

Just then, there was a hum outside. Andy had arrived with the Chinook and was ready for take off. The two agents thanked Roy for the new equipment. Steven took his SPAS 12, a .45 semi automatic, many rounds of ammunition, inferred goggles, buck knife and the new and improved rappel gun and left. Shannon took the same things and they both left.

"Oh, agents," said Paul as he chased them down on the helipad. "During your flight, I will be transmitting some satellite data to you inside of the Chinook. I want you to study it and find any kind of location that she might be hiding at."

The two agents nodded and walked onto the Chinook.

"Hello," said Andy.

"How are you today?" asked Steven.

"Good," replied Andy. "This flight will take about 4 to five hours. The winds are kind of messy today, but we will manage."

The two agents nodded and the Chinook took off toward the west.

***

About an hour later, a satellite image loaded onto the monitors on the Chinook.

"This is the woods that Mrs. Smith was talking about, agents," said Paul’s voice. "It is about three miles big. The woods consist of cliffs, and a big river runs through the heart of it. We have found that there are black bears in this area, as well as snakes. Proceed with caution. We did not find any inferred evidence that Heather Smith is there, so I believe that she is underground in some cave or something. We believe that she is in a cave at the North End of the forest. It is large, and you may be able to find her there. Please, be careful."

The voice ended, but the satellite image stayed. The two agents studied it all the way up until they had to go.

"Hey!" yelled Andy. "It is almost time to go!"

The two agents looked over and stood up and the helicopter flew just above the tree line about a mile away from the cave. Andy opened up the bomb bay doors and latched two zip lines down.

"It is far too dangerous to parachute down," said Andy. "So you will have to zip line down. Just make sure you wear gloves."

The two agents put on their gloves and got ready to zip down. Steven took one on the right, and Shannon took the one on the left. The two looked at each other and then zipped down the line to the floor of the forest. The two lines were pulled up, and then the helicopter took off.

"What do we do now?" asked Shannon.

"To the caves," said Steven. "Have your gun ready."

Shannon nodded.

The two agents walked through the woods carefully, looking for any bears, snakes, cliffs or even any sign of Heather. With weapons drawn, they stepped over fallen limbs, walked upon the leaf littered ground and listened to every bird chirping listening for any kind of rustling.

They eventually managed to get to the caves. The caves were dark. The two agents put on their inferred goggles and continued in. Right when they got into the caves, there was a split. One split went to the left and one went straight forward.

"Where do we go from here?" asked Shannon.

Steven looked for a second and then looked at Shannon. "I’ll go to the left," he said. "You keep going forward. If you need help, just yell for me."

"Okay," replied Shannon.

Steven turned left and slowly went down the cave. Shannon went forward.

The cave was dark and cold, there was bat guano on the ground. Steven knew that there were bats around, he could smell them. The guano seemed not to be very deep because it only went up to his ankles. After a few feet forward, however, there was no guano. At the far end, he could see some light peering down from a hole in the ceiling. He went under the hole and peered out to the forest. Steven took out his rappel gun and shot up. The hook latched onto the side of the hole, and Steven went up to the forest. Steven looked around for a while, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

"STEVEN!!! HELP!!!" yelled the voice of Shannon.

Steven jumped back into the hole and tripped a little bit. He jumped back onto his feet and ran down the cave, skipped through the bat guano and back to the split. He took out his SPAS 12 and ran down the straight cave tunnel.

Steven used this inferred to find Shannon and hopefully Heather. He quietly walked through the cave, and came to a group of natural formed catacombs. He stopped at each opening of the catacombs and peered in for a second. After clearing each catacomb, he quietly walked to the end of the cave tunnel and found that there was an opening out of the cave, via a small hole in the cave.

Steven got onto his belly and squeezed through the opening to the 3:00 PM sun that was a little bit dimmed by the tall trees. The agent looked around for a second and then heard a sound. It was a rustling sound and then a growl. Suddenly, out of a bush about twenty feet away jolted a bear. It was a mother black bear and she was mad. Steven quickly took out his rappel gun and shot toward a tree. The hook latched onto it and the agent jolted up into the air.

Steven hung in the air holding on to the butt of the rappel gun above an angry mother bear who was circling the tree. Steven’s arms were getting tired, so he rapped his legs around the large truck of the tree giving some extra support.

"SHANNON!" yelled Steven.

"STEVEN HELP!!!!!!" yelled Shannon’s voice back.

The voice seemed to come from the east.

Steven looked down and saw that they bear was clawing at the tree and trying to knock it down. Steven pushed a button on his rappel gun and he went up. There was a limb that was just above the agent. Steven grabbed onto it with his left arm, and with his right arm, shot his rappel gun toward a distant tree that was really big. The hook of the gun went into the tree, and the line pulled Steven toward it about 30 feet.

"SHANNON!!!" yelled Steven again.

"STEVEN, PLEASE HURRY!!" yelled Shannon again.

This time, the voice was closer. It seemed to be coming from a house in the distance. Steven looked down and the bear was nowhere to be seen. Steven zipped down slowly and the hook unlatched from the tree and Steven ran to the house in the distance.

There was a sliding back door to the house and Steven slid it open and got in.

"Shannon!" yelled Steven. "Are you here?"

"STEVEN!" yelled the voice again. "I am upstairs, please hurry!"

Steven quickly ran upstairs and there was a bathroom at the end of the hallway. It was closed. Steven quietly walked up to the bathroom and opened it up. Suddenly, a woman jumped out at Steven and knocked him on the ground.

"Got you now, Mr. Goodykoontz!!" yelled Heather Smith’s voice.

Heather looked like Shannon a little bit, however, her eyebrows were slanted and she had a slight grin.

Heather took out a knife from her pocket. She was wearing stretch pants and a plain shirt. Heather tried to stab Steven, however, Steven quickly grabbed Heather’s hand and kicked her off of him. Heather twirled off of Steven and slammed to the ground. Steven quickly got up and took out his .45 semi automatic. He pointed it down the hall, to where Heather was supposed to be, but she was gone.

A door at the left end of the hallway slammed shut. Steven ran up to the door and heard rustling behind it. She turned the knob and tried to open the door, however, there was a dresser in front of the door. Steven used all of his force to open the door, however when he did, Heather jumped out and hit Steven in the head with a lamp.

Steven quickly slumped over and held his head. Heather tried to swing again, but the agent grabbed the lamb and pulled Heather through the door and threw her across the doorway. She slammed into a wall and made an impression.

Steven pointed his gun toward Heather and was ready to shoot, however, Heather’s face changed.

"Steven," said the voice groggily. "Don’t shoot, it is me, Shannon."

Steven looked at her, dumbfounded. All of a sudden, Heather’s face changed and now looked like Shannon’s with a simple release of her grin, and the eye brows went down.

"What the," said Steven. "You have multiple personality disorder."

"What?" asked Shannon. "You were once Heather. You are Heather, but Shannon is just a personality that she has."

"I do not understand," said Shannon.

Steven grabbed a rope from the garage and tied up Shannon.

"I am sorry Shannon," said Steven.

"I am- have two personalities?" asked Shannon.

"Sorry," said Steven as he clicked on his radio. "Andy."

"Yes," said Andy. "You need picked up?"

"Yes," replied Steven.

***

A few minutes later, Andy arrived and picked up the two agents. Steven guided Shannon, who was tied up onto the helicopter.

"What is going on?" asked Andy.

"This is Heather," said Steven. "And she is also Shannon."

"What?" asked Andy in astonishment. "You mean that she has multiple personality disorder?"

Steven nodded and sat Shannon down. Steven sat next to her. Andy then closed the door and took off toward ADOC HQ.

"Paul," said Steven in his radio.

"Yes, agent," replied Paul.

"I need you to quickly bring in a psychologist quickly into ADOC HQ," replied Steven.

"Why?" asked Paul.

"I have found out who Heather truly is," replied Steven.

"Who?" asked Paul.

"Heather and Shannon are the same person in the same body," replied Steven.

"She is an MPD?" asked Paul.

"Yes," replied Steven.

"Okay," said Paul. "I will bring one in soon."

***

Later, the Chinook arrived at the ADOC HQ. Steven guided Shannon out to Paul’s office.

"The psychologist is in the meeting room," said Paul pointing to the meeting room.

Steven nodded and guided Shannon to that room. Paul followed in. Steven sat Shannon down.

"Hello, Shannon," said the psychologist.

"Hi," replied Shannon.

The psychologist began to talk to Shannon as Steven watched from behind the one-way glass. While talking to the psychologist, she started to become angry and her faced change. She tried to attack the psychologist, but since she was tied down, she could not get to him. There were two armed guards in the room that also held her back.

Steven shook his head and walked into Paul’s office. Steven looked at Paul, who was messing around with his computer.

"Paul," said Steven.

Paul looked up. "Yes, agent," replied Paul.

"I feel that Shannon could help us when she is cured," said Steven.

Paul looked confused. "What makes you think she will ever be cured from this affliction?" asked Paul.

"I have faith in God she will," Steven said a little shaky.

"I am sorry, Steven," said Paul. "I fail to see how God will help in this situation. To be frank, I do not share the same faith as you do. Nor do I even follow any faith."

"I understand," said Steven. "However, you should."

"What?" asked Paul annoyed.

"I said, sir," said Steven with a little fear, "you should."

"Agent," said Paul with anger. "I believe that in ADOC policy that any religious affiliation is okay, but to try to make other affiliate with that belief will not be tolerated."

"I was merely just explaining-" said Steven who was cut off by Paul.

"NO!!!" yelled Paul with rage. "Did I not just make it clear that you are not to force religion around here!"

"Yes, sir," said Steven.

"Then," said Paul. "You should shut up."

"Okay, sir," said Steven with a little bit of embarrassment. "I believe that she will be okay after this."

"Who?" asked Paul. "Oh, Shannon. Yes. Agent, since you are highly revered, I will allow you to coach her. I will instruct the psychologist to try to help her, however, if in about one year that she is not fully recovered, she will not work for us."

Steven nodded his head and walked back into the interrogation room. The psychologist then walked out of the interrogation area.

"You know, agent," said the psychologist. "I believe that she is an MPD."

"Okay," said Steven. "But will she be okay?"

"It is probable, but not promised," replied the psychologist.

"Can you tell me what caused this?" asked Steven. "I have a theory that when Jermany Damien brainwashed her, that the regular and original personality went dormant and the new cold blooded personality took over. However, when she began to come around me, and the nice and calm personality came out."

"That sure is probable," said the psychologist. "For some reason, both personalities have similar memories and similar implanted memories. She did say that when she was younger, her sister, who is actually her twin personality, used to play checkers and Heather, he cold blooded personality always won."

"She expressed the same thing to me," said Steven as he looked at Shannon through the one-way glass window. Shannon was crying.

"Why is she crying?"

"The healing process usually is hard," replied the psychologist. "She has requested in seeing you."

Steven nodded and walked into the interrogation area.

"STEVEN!" yelled Shannon- the real Shannon.

"Happy to see me?" asked Steven.

"Yes," replied Shannon. "You saved my life. You did not attempt to kill me. Why?"

"Somehow," said Steven, "I had a feeling that you were sick, but not sure what."

"Am I a bad person for having two personalities," asked Shannon.

"Would you be a bad person if you had Alzheimer's?" asked Steven. "How about AIDs?"

"I guess not," said Shannon. "How did this happen to me?"

"Well," said Steven sincerely. "It was not your fault, nor was it natural. It was because when Jermany Damien brainwashed you, they created a new personality to try to kill the original personality, however it just went dormant, and now both personalities are fighting for all control."

Shannon started to cry. "I will never be cured will I?" asked Shannon crying and broken.

Steven ran over to Shannon’s side and squatted down next to her.

"Do not believe that," said Steven. "You WILL be okay."

"How can you believe that?" asked Shannon.

"God," said Steven.

"God?" asked Shannon. "What can he do to help?"

"He helped me," replied Steven. "I was depressed for a while." Steven sighed and looked at Shannon right in the eye. "Do you remember when ADOC thought that Andy Davis, Nathan Dalton and Matt Lippins were dead." asked Steven.

Shannon nodded her head.

"Well," continued Steven. "When Kalem Isaac asked me if I were married, and I replied ‘once’.

Shannon then nodded again.

"Well," said Steven with a tear down his cheek. "A long time ago, about five years ago, before I joined ADOC or even the Army, my wife died while child birth."

"Oooohhhhh," said Shannon with remorse. "I am sorry."

"Then, when Angel died, it totally killed me," said Steven. "We, we were supposed to get married that week."

Shannon then started to cry. "And I killed her," said Shannon crying.

"It was not you," said Steven. "It was Jermany Damien. You are blameless."

"I need God," said Shannon. "How?"

Steven snuffed up and replied, "Just ask him."

"Okay," said Shannon. "How?"

"Just say, ‘Jesus, please forgive me of all of my sins and come into my life,’" said Steven.

Shannon laid down her head. "Jesus, please forgive me of my sins and come into my life. BECAUSE I NEED YOU!" she begged.

Shannon felt peace and began to cry.

"I, I am now saved?" asked Shannon.

"Yes," replied Steven.