6. Bad Day.

Number one walked up to the main hub, the sound of bustling activity filling his ears as people hurriedly went about their tasks. The scent of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air, mixing with the faint smell of paper and ink. The room was filled with the sight of people huddled around computer screens, their faces illuminated by the soft glow. He could feel the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. Leading a goddamn base was quite a freaking lot of work.

As he looked around, he saw Mimi from a different perspective, her determination and leadership earning his real respect. The realization hit him like a punch in the gut - he had been a shithead to her for most of their married life, and now she was finally free. Wulfe had returned, his presence a silent reminder of the dangers they faced. Though he hadn't spoken about what he was doing, it was no surprise to see that Mimi was not working. 

Mariella had stepped up, becoming quite a leader for another team, but she lacked the same hardness as Mimi. Together, they had found their own way to honor those they might lose. So far, they had been lucky, with no losses. Damon knew it was because Mimi had always taken care of the most dangerous missions herself, ensuring the rest of the crew had safer assignments with fewer casualties.

The Salvatores were busy, their presence felt both here and there. They had returned to the States after Magnum took charge of South America. Magnum had reminded them that this wasn't some little hobby they could do whenever they pleased. Being a part of this organization requires time, effort, and dedication. If they weren't ready to commit, it would be better for them to leave. Magnum knew how to motivate them, not caring for Mimi. Damon hadn't even thought about it - he had once again let her down. He had knocked her out and now she would wake up alone, or worse, with Colin instead of her pack.

But there was no time for regrets or self-loathing. They were busy as hell, with no time to wallow. Damon and Mariella, along with numbers two and five, had been traveling from base to base, immersing themselves in the lives of everyone there. They helped out wherever they could, identifying and fixing any troubles that arose. They were troubleshooters, but it wasn't easy to enter a new base and establish themselves as leaders. Not everyone respected his leadership, and it took patience and perseverance to prove himself to those who doubted him.

Wulfe was here and there, not constantly by their side. Damon sensed his worry for Mimi, but at the same time, he felt he had failed to keep her safe. He had no idea that she had been in danger, and that weighed heavily on his conscience. 

The notion that Damon was more than ready to share. He blamed himself as well and swore that once Missy came back to work, there would be some new rules put in place, so they would have an idea of her being in trouble sooner. 

Even Wulfe had driven Sark and Krycheck, especially Krycheck underground more or less. Sark had an extensive network ready to chase everyone, the whole pack, and they all were targets. Somehow, feeling being a prey motivated Damon even more. His vampire side was quite damn irritated by these humans who thought that could take him, vampire lord, over a thousand-year-old creature, telepath. But same time as news came of what had been found in Sark's cars or their bases, Damon knew now it was not time to be arrogant, reckless, and trust too much to himself. Safety first and again, Mimi came to his mind, how he would teach her to be safe.

He thought bitterly that it might take time. This organization was worldwide and she could go wherever she wanted. This was still hers and pretty much everyone saw her as the leader, someone to look up to. So it was not of easy for him to go to her, impose his will over her, and expect her to obey. Maybe she would not want to even see him at all. Of course, he could plan as much as he wanted, but in reality, it might not come true, not at all. 

Mariela saw all of those feelings flashing here and there on Damon's face. She could feel him through their bond and she was pretty helpless to ease his burden, as it was also her burden. Goddamn, she was supposed to teach Mimi to love again, and no Mimi, no love. She was working and Mimi was doing god knows what. and what was most heart-wrenching was the fact that it was Mimi's business what she was doing. She was not in the pack; she was not married and even she had had a bond with number four. Mariella was not sure if number four had severed that or then kept it closed off. He was very much like number one, and she had seen pain on his face too.

This was just their life and maybe this was payment for all of those lost moments with Mimi, all those times when they had let her down, not kept her close, not appreciated her, not made her feel like she belonged. Mariella had learned that humans could make her feel like she belonged, even though she had never been human. She understood it had been a just excuse for them that Mimi was different, so they would not have to get to know her, take her as part of the pack, and why. She had no idea, what had been that thing that had stopped them, including her.

They were in the Minnesota base and she was just checking on upcoming missions when she noticed several guys grouping on one table. Their hushed voices and stern expressions woke up her curiosity. She went closer and listened. 

Guy called Seth and said, "Where she is? I can go to her and tell her about this. Her work phone is silent, and offline, so she is not checking in and she has not been on the dark web. She needs to know."

Walt said, "She is according to Colin in Canada, being a vet, treating cats and dogs, this is not good but I have no idea why, she has never spoken about this project Omega, or Target Omega, whoever that is." 

Adam happened to hear, and he walked to the guys and said, in a low voice, "Project Omega, you said, what is going on?"

Seth said, "We just found out that several government black sites, their guys, are after someone called Target Omega. The order is capture, not kill, and that is linked to Flea. They are looking for her. There is a whole new group within them, called 'seducers', meaning they look normal, infiltrate and seduce, get information, and capture the target. This is just in, so Flea has no idea. I have here quite a collection of these photos of these guys. I need to go to the flea. Give this info to her so she can be safe."

Adam was silent, his thoughts raced. He knew that the project had been project omega, and Mimi was the target omega, but why they were after her? Fine, he needed to go to her, to make sure that she was safe, first up he walked up to the guys in computers, told them about this, and gave his permission to hack into the vet clinic's security feeds and cross-reference those pictures. He had a nasty feeling in his guts, but he wanted proof. It should not take too long. He would see that she was safe. 

Mariella had noticed Adam's tension and as Adam walked up to the hacker, Mariella went to Damon, and said, "Some guys from the government, some kind of new division of infiltration looking for someone called target Omega and Project Omega, Adam knows something about it and it has all linked to Mimi."

Damon cursed, and long and hard because the damn baby had done it again.

Fine, he said lowly, "Mimi made me forget, or not to pay attention. I got this freaking information about these crises for ages ago but as Miss has to protect everyone around her, she must be put in some point little hint in her blood to make me forget this. This is nasty."

Damon did not explain more. He went to Adam to talk with him for a while. Adam was furious. He was almost about to lose it, but he stalked away, taking his work phone, and Mariella could hear the word Wulfe. He was calling to wulfe, explaining something to him. Damon had gone to that table where they were talking about those projects. It would not be easy to fix, but he and they would fix it, and more so, now it was time for Wulfe, Magnum, Colin, Dexter, and Murdock to see just how far she would go to keep her secrets.

Some secrets would be good to share and now she would have to face the music once they would get confirmation that she was safe for now. It would be time for her to realize just how hard these five were willing to keep her safe in order for them to do so. She needed to tell her secrets. It was time for the young lady to start trusting and not protecting, as she wasn't actually protecting anyone. Sometimes ignorance is not bliss, it is danger. Especially in this work. 

It was a day later when five had come, and Damon, Numbers two, four, Mariella, Adam Charles, and wolves were in one soundproof, secure room.

Damon stood in front of everyone and said, "Now this is for further notice, hush-hush, so not to tell anyone this, not until we can get this bomb defused. Mimi has kept one secret from all of you, a big secret. She had made me forget this, too. She can manipulate her blood and put mental hints in it. Those hints affect me too, so Wulfe, I am not sure if you are immune to them."

Wulfe said lazily, "I am once I get them in my system, I need to feel them, she is powerful but I have my ways, good to know, I need to challenge my unicorn at some point but not tell her my intentions. What is that secret?"

Damon said, "Project Omega, her origins, in short, those doctors conned quite a load of money in very high ups in government shady part, and it was all done behind the president back they sold this project to the government as one that would yield super soldier but it was never their intentions. Mimi has evidence, she has databanks all over the world, and she is evidence of herself, her memory. Sark and Krycheck were also part of that project, but they had no idea how many were part of that team, they were just doing their part. "

Wulfe was not happy, Magnum was furious as well as Adam and Charles too, too big a secret for her to keep. Not good. 

Damon continued, seeing tension rising in this room. "Now I know that Morrisey and Kendrick are dead. I killed them. Well, I was a government assassin, and, I had no idea who they were. The government was getting rid of loose ends. They had thought that Mimi had not survived. It had been too cold for her to survive, so they ordered me to kill those two. I got this information as I interrogated Mimi back in the day when we were trying to learn her stories. It was one of our private sessions that I got this yanked out of her. That is how I learned this whole mess."

Magnum said, "It has almost 200 years, what's a big deal anymore, the president is dead, it is history," 

Damon said," In my contacts, there were five guys, that had been linked for that division, now I had not worked with them at all not before Mimi and those contacts, they are still alive, as you know, humans can live a lot longer, I now know that I had been set up, those were trying to get Mimi through me. Not sure how many times they succeed. I tried to leave my wallet, and my phone behind nevertheless, I trusted them too much, and told them too much, we need to expose this secret, we need the evidence, same time we need to persuade the government not to come after Mimi again... oh shit.."

Damon's voice was angry as he again got some idea. 

He looked at Adam and said, "Harrison, he is a vampire. He has killed Mimi once, not sure if he is after her again."

Adam started to swear.

He said, "Harrison used to work with Mimi. He was almost her second in command, but he had family and he was a little off. My instincts warned me about him, but Mimi trusted him. "

Damon gave everyone a mental picture and this time Wulfe started to walk, cursing in Greek and his hands were fisted.

It took a few minutes for him to get a grip and he said, "That guy was in a fight club, goddamn it, Mimi threw poison snake at him, it seemed random but she must have targeted him and she never said a word. Oh, unicorn, it would be so nice to put to be a tick for a few weeks to see if there is the sense in you."

Number two said, dryly, "Wonderful idea. Last time she was impossible, what she would be now? I just think that is suitable, but we need to bring her in, time for her to stop being a vet."

The door was knocked, Adam went to open it, talked with some guy for a few minutes, and came back holding the tablet, he said, "Yeah and fast, we have hit, one of those men has made contact with Missy and she has no idea. He has asked her for coffee several times, and well, she won't come back. We have to go right now, but like that, so the men do not get any alerts, we need telepaths."

Number one said, "Fine, I and number two, Mariella and Mimosa. Mimosa, you will be hurt a bit but I will give you a painkiller so it should not be too bad. You have broken your front paw, badly, number two, and Mariella you will be Mimosa's owner and this will bad enough injury so they will call Mimi, and once she is with you, you bring her in, I and Wulfe will deal with that damn government guy. it might be that they have some telepathic protocols but Wulfe is good at what he does."

Mimosa nodded. She was ready for her part. 

Mariella was angry as well. She was not sure just what way number two was going to bring Mimi in, but she would be actually more safe in base or even doing missions than living on her own, being a vet. Mariella wanted to be a vet too one day, but not yet. Too many evildoers left in the world. Mimi would have to face the music and Wulfe, Magnum and so many others were not impressed by her secrets.

They were ready after a few hours. Damon had used dental to stop Mimosa from healing, her paw had an open fracture, Damon had done it OR but it looked like the injury gotten from an accident, they roughly bandaged it, Mimosa was panting out of the pain, it was not too bad but it felt, and she had told Damon to make it hurt so it would be more real. They teleported close by, took one pack's car, and drove up to the clinic.

They went in. Mariella was very good at her role. A hysterical woman, fearing for her precious dog, and number two, was her anxious husband. Number two spotted the man right from the start, cursed in his mind, and told Wulfe too. As soon as Wulfe walked in, Number Two spoke to him as if he would have been his father, told him to wait, and Wulfe went to sit next to the man. Mimi walked in. Her expression was puzzled, but she kept it under control as the nurse explained things to her.