Anachron - 10

In the IRS Building

Alex and Lauren climbed the stairs to escape the danger in the sub-basement.  They had two options: flee the building, regroup and strategize or hide right under Weiss's nose, stay in the building, and regroup immediately. By the time they reached the lobby floor they decided that they had best take their chances inside the building, not knowing if and when they would even be able to get back in.

They devised a plan to confiscate a FBI agent's cell phone and use it to contact Davis since he was the closest thing to an ally they could think of.  The plan was risky though, who knew if Davis would trust them?  Maybe he would just turn them over to Weiss, but maybe he might help.  After all, Davis had seen the video of Hills helping Cane escape.  He had to believe they were the good guys.  Right?

Time was of the essence.  Weiss was going to realize that they had escaped and come up out of the sub-basement even more determined to hunt them down.  They had to get up to the 14 floor where the FBI team was setup.  Up the stairs they went only to find that the doors to exit stair were locked.  The doors required an access card, even Lauren's new knowledge of lock picking couldn't open the door.

Exhausted, they arrived back on the lobby floor, but they weren't ready to give up just yet.  They snuck out of the exit and made their way across the lobby and into an IRS break room.  To their horror their faces were all over the news broadcast on the televisions on the wall.  It looked as though Weiss wasn't just trying to quiet them, he was framing them for the crime that he himself had taken part in.

Alex quickly intimidated a young IRS worker to give her her access card, and to keep quiet and lay low.  Alex and Lauren went back to the lobby and grabbed the first elevator that they could board alone.  They swiped the access card, punched the button, and rode 14 nail biting floors up, hoping the whole ride that the elevator didn't stop to pick up any other passengers.

They arrived on the 14th floor without incident and quickly slipped into the womens bathroom behind two FBI agents.  Alex took a stall while Lauren stepped up to sinks and slipped her hand into one of the agent's purses on the counter top and stole her phone without anyone seeing.  Once they had the phone they made their way back to the elevator and left the IRS building as quickly as they could.

Alex had an old school friend, Kate, who lived in the Fort Worth area that they could visit and perhaps get some money and shelter from.  They hailed a cab and set off to Kate's address.  Luckily Kate was home, she paid the cab fare for Lauren and Alex and let them in.  Kate started to ask questions and Alex struggled to explain her predicament.  Kate was apprehensive to help them, but she knew Alex growing up, and so she trusted her enough not to become to suspicious.  Kate gave Alex and Lauren some space and alone they dialed Davis' number.

The call was simple. Alex talked and Davis gave no response beyond "go ahead" whenever Alex paused or asked a question.  Davis was either playing it cool or he was being unhelpful. Finally Alex invited him to meet them in a park just down the street from Kate's address.  Davis responded by saying "thanks for the tip" and then he hung up.

Before Alex and Lauren went to wait at the park for Davis they decided to turn on the TV and find out exactly what lies Weiss had spread about them.  Kate came in to watch too.  It turned out that Weiss had spun the situation to make it appear as though the Anachron Team planned the escape of Bradley Cane.  The Anachron Team was being hailed as a secret division of the FBI that went rouge and began tinkering with cadavers, and performing unsanctioned scientific experimentation.

Kate didn't like what she saw on the TV.  Alex tried to explain what had really happened but it all sounded more like a crazy sci-fi movie plot than a recounting of the actual events of the past few days.  Kate couldn't stomach it and for her own safety she asked that they leave her home.  Lauren and Alex realized that Kate's reaction was probably typical of the average American upon hearing the accusations on the TV.  The Anachron Program was the stuff of books and movies, and it was easier to paint them as rouge FBI agents who murdered the President than it was to see them as crusaders of truth.  If Lauren and Alex couldn't make Kate understand, how were they going to get the country to believe them?

Disappointed they left and headed to the park.  Davis didn't keep them waiting very long.  He came alone, which Lauren and Alex took as a vote of confidence.  Lauren and Alex did their best to be apologetic for throwing Davis under the bus in front of Weiss over the surveillance tape in Wichita.  Davis kept and open mind to what they said but offered up some counterpoints to their version of the truth.  In the end Lauren explained that Weiss and Hills were working together and that if they could use Mitchell's body that they could finally have a clear understanding of how everything was linked between Wichita and Fort Worth.

Davis offered to release Mitchell's body if Lauren and Alex were willing to break back into the IRS building and use the Anachron one last time.  Davis wasn't ready to fully ally himself with them yet but he was warming up to the idea of it.  Just before Davis left Lauren planted one last seed in Davis' mind.  She told him that as proof of Weiss' and Hills' alliance that Hills' name wouldn't be named  in connection with the President's Death. She told him to watch and see, somehow Weiss would make sure that Hills got away with murder.

That final seed began to blossom as Davis drove back to the IRS building.  If Lauren was right and Weiss let Hills off the hook, the only person besides Lauren and Alex who saw the surveillance tape and would know of Hills' guilt, was him.  Davis didn't like the idea heading back to the IRS building to work on a fake investigation headed by a murderer.  He decided to proceed cautiously and do some investigating on his own.