Something To Be Thankful For (November 2012)

Dax had watched the car come and he tried to see inside but the windows were tinted. The drone was silent but if it got too close someone would be able to hear it so he always kept it at a good distance away from everyone. Its propulsion was based on the Starks own repulsor tech and he had improved it by making it whisper quiet.

He was extremely intelligent, he knew this and knew that Hannah wasn’t really into him and just using him. This didn’t change that he wanted her though. She had made promises to him and thus far she had let her anger toward her failed attempts strain their relationship. Dax was hopelessly in love with Hannah. She had been the only woman he had ever kissed and the feel of her against him, the way she kissed him had completely blown his world up. He wanted more though, wanted them to be a couple and for her to abandon this endeavor of vengeance. He heard her come into the monitoring room. She smelled...wonderful as she leaned over his shoulder.

“They brought someone into the tower but I couldn’t see who it was. With the recent attack, they’ve put up some kind of energy field around the living space and its being powered by an arc reactor so cutting the power will do nothing. It’s a literal fortress and each time we fail they make it even harder to penetrate. We have no choice now than to wait for them to leave. I do know that the field goes down briefly when the elevator passes through it,” he said. “But its only seconds,” Dax added then sighed.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you...about us,” He said.

Hannah was angry and frustrated. Serena would have been dead that first night if it hadn't been for this Peter Parker. He seemed to be able to anticipate her attacks and moved so fast that she didn't stand a chance against him. He also seemed willing to protect Serena with his life, which meant she was going to have to find a way to take him out first or separate them. It was highly unlikely that they were going to allow Serena to venture out of the Tower now that they knew that she was being targeted. That meant that they were going to have to find a way to get into the Tower...which seemed almost impossible. However, she wasn't going to give up. Not when she was so close to getting vengeance for her father's death.

Hannah walked into the old warehouse Dax was using as a base of operation. She leaned over his shoulder to look at the screen which was playing back the video from that morning. She glared at it angrily before stepping away. She began to pace, but stopped when Dax said he wanted to talk about their "relationship." Hannah was only using Dax to get what she wanted. Once that task was complete she would drop him like a boulder into the ocean. However, she couldn't let him know that. She needed him, although she would never admit that to him.

"What did you want to talk about exactly?"

Dax turned from his keyboard to look at her. She was beautiful, very much so but he needed to focus on what he intended to say before he lost his nerve. “I liked your father. He was good to me but with that second attempt...well the entirety of the Avengers, SHIELD, the FBI, their all looking now. I said I would help you. Tony Stark is an asshole but I have helped you. Their worried now, very worried. Worried people tend to be more tenacious and I didn’t sign up for this. Not for just a kiss,” he said. His eyes shifted down to her breasts then shifted back up again to her large, green eyes. “I haven’t asked you for anything Hannah and we entered into the time when this has become dangerous for us. Is it worth losing our lives? Your father did try to kill Tony when he was killed himself. I’m not saying I don’t want to see Tony dead but going after his daughter? She’s done nothing to you,” Dax said.

"But she has!" Hannah snapped angrily, but then she quickly moderated her tone. She was going to have to tread lightly here...and likely sleep with the guy to get him to stay and continue to help her. She forced tears to come to her eyes. "Serena still has her father and I don't. Isn't that enough Dax?" she asked with a waiver to her voice as a tears slipped down her cheek. "I've lost everything and now you're going to leave me too...."

Dax’s eyebrows drew up in alarm at her tears. He stood and debated going to her. He wanted to hold her and quiet her tears but he wasn’t certain she’d want that...want him. “I didn’t say that,” he said trying to keep his voice soft. “I just think that the more and more we focus on her, the more ire we will garner. Everyone feels Tony can take care of himself. Going after the girl though...everyone wants to protect her. There is just you and I in this. No one else,” Dax said.

Hannah now knew she was going to have to sleep with Dax in order to keep him on her side in all of this. She would have to make promises she had no intention of keeping. She slowly began to move closer to Dax. She could see him watching her nervously. She slipped her arms around his neck. "But I want her Dax...just like I want you," she whispered in his ear. "Just think, once she's dead it will be all over and you and I can move on...together. Doesn't that sound...incredible?"

Dax couldn’t stop the tremble when she touched him and when she whispered into his ear. He had told himself that he would not give in. This had become out of control for them. A dangerous situation that could go badly, quickly. Dax was not an idiot. Hannah was gorgeous and he was not. Her words tickled his ear and her proximity forced his body to react to her touch. He gulped as he tried to get a grip upon himself.

“Im not the one thats going to be out there. I’m afraid that they’ll take you away from me Hannah,” he said as his resolve began to build again inside of him. It was so hard though, with her arms around his neck and her large, green eyes looking at him. Her scent was intoxicating. “You know how I feel about you Hannah and I just feel...I just think…” He began but wasn’t certain how to tell her that he thought that when she killed Serena, she’d just pack up her toys and leave him.

Hannah shook her head a little as she looked at Dax. "They aren't going to take me away from you Dax. It's all going to be alright...I promise," she whispered again. She could see he was still hesitating, but she knew she almost had him. She looked into his eyes for a long moment before she leaned in and kissed him.

It had taken days but finally Frank had tracked down the cab driver and the cab that had been used to transport Peter and Serena. He had taken it from the parking garage owned by the cab company and he was going over it inch by inch. After hours of checking it out he noticed an odd smooshed ball of something sticky on the trunk. It was gray and it looked like something might be inside it. He took it up to his workshop where his partner, David Leiberman aka Microchip, was tracing street cameras of the woman on the motorcycle. He was hacking into them and going backwords from where she had ended up. It was a painstaking process but he knew it was important to Frank and so he kept at it. Frank came in and set down the small device he found inside the sticky goop that covered it.

“It looks like some kind of tracking device. Sophisticated, shot out of a weapon, maybe a rifle onto the back of the cab to track it. The thing is, their response times were so fast. I think they must have something, a vehicle or some kind of drone.

“I’ll take a look and ask around,” he said as he took a good look at the small, device. “Well, I have to get the cab back, let me know as soon as you find out anything,” Frank said.

“Oh and I cross referenced those lists you gave me. I think I’ve found a possible candidate. John Morley, Ghost, was tossed out of the tower and fell to his death. He had a wife but she died quite a while ago. He had one child, a daughter, a Hannah Morley. Well, Hannah was a former Navy Seal and went to MIT,” David said. Frank just looked at him. “Keep on it and get a photo if you can find it,” Frank said. David only nodded.

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Thanksgiving was around the corner but it was clear that no one felt much like celebrating. Tony did have a reason to celebrate though. The satellite detected a small heat bloom that hovered about the tower. He used a tiny laser to track it but after a few seconds he kept losing it. He was working on trying to target it long enough to take it down but without Peter’s help, it was taking a long time to come up with anything. Peter and Serena were inseparable. Where she went, he went. The others came and went but Tony, Isabella, Serena and Peter did not leave the tower for any reason.

Steve and Natalya were sparring in the gym. Steve had gotten much better at fighting hand to hand and with his added strength he was a force to be reckoned with for Natalya. After he had taken her down...for the second time they decided to take a break. They were both covered in sweat and Steve drank from his water bottle. Natalya wasn’t a big talker but Steve liked to talk...alot. He had grown a beard and it had come in recently.

“So how are you feeling Natalya? It seems as if you’ve turned a corner for the better,” he said. “I think you and Logan should just go do it,’ he said intentionally not being specific.

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Dax had detected the laser and had completely lost his shit. He wanted to pack up right then and there and it had taken Hannah sleep with him to keep him where she needed him. To her surprise, he wasn’t half bad. He had more down there than she would have expected and though she hadn’t been with alot of men it was a pleasurable experience and it served a purpose. She needed Dax, needed his drones and his technical expertise. He wasn’t a whole lot to look at but if she needed to sleep with him again it wouldn’t be the worst sexual experience she ever had. While she lay there in bed he was at his computer. His hair was messy and he only wore a pair of gray jogging pants. He was thin without very much muscle tone. She doubted he had ever worked out in his life. She needed his brain, not his body.

He smiled as he looked back at her. “I think I might have a way to get you into the Tower undetected,” He said excitedly. “But it will take time to fabricate what I’m going to need,” he said.

Serena was going a little stir crazy being cooped up in the Tower, but she wasn't going to leave. Richard had already sacrificed his life for her, she wasn't going to let that happen again. Isabella had planned Richard's funeral and she, Tony, Logan, Natalya, Steve, and Kate had attended. It had been a small affair. Richard had never married and did not have any children so the funeral guests had pretty much consisted of the Avengers and some of the other guys from security.

Peter refused to leave Serena's side. He went everywhere she did. Thankfully, the Tower had a lot of things to keep them busy and they spent most of their time in the lab continuing to work on their project. It served as a good distraction for Serena and the lab did not have any windows. That was where Serena and Peter were now. Serena glanced up from her laptop to look at Peter.

"So, what have you been telling Aunt May?"

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Natalya enjoyed working out with Steve. He was the only other person, other than Logan, to give her a challenge when it came to sparring. They both had the Super Soldier Serum flowing through their veins and were almost equally matched, especially now that he had been working with her in hand to hand combat training.

She stepped over to pick up her water bottle as they took a break and she glanced at him when he said that she and Logan should "just go for it." She wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that. "What do you mean by that? Go for what?"

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Hannah had been surprised by Dax in bed. Although it had been his first time, he wasn't half bad and she had gotten more pleasure out of the experience than she had expected. He wasn't much to look at, but he seemed much more inclined to stay with her now and that was good because she needed his brain. She lay there in his bed while he sat at his computer in a pair of jogging pants. She was bored and was about to get up and start getting dressed when he suddenly told her that he might have a way to get her into the Tower undetected. Her interest was immediately piqued.

"What? How?"

Dax smiled and then frowned when he saw her getting dressed. “I had an epiphany,” he said. “Tony has retasked one of his satellites. I can use it its targeting lasers to disrupt one of those energy field generators. Giving you enough time to slip inside them,” he said.

“Getting dressed already?” he said as he stood up. “I had hoped for...more,” he said with a smile. His cheeks colored but he moved toward her. Hannah rolled her eyes and sighed then shifted back to lay in the bed.

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“Well, marriage. It’s worked well for Kate and I. You obviously need one another, you and Logan. We live dangerous lives Natalya. You may not be able to have children but you can have a husband. Marriage is an adventure all on its own. More than just a legal contract. Kate and I are bound together and closer since we’ve been married,” he said as he wiped his face with his towel. We argue and fight sometimes but we always come back together after the heat dies down. I mean...there’s more to it ofcourse. Its just difficult to explain it all,” he said.

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“She didn’t know what happened but she does see the news so i had to tell her the truth. She’s frightened for me and for you but there is little she can do about it. I tell her that we’re safe and she’s ok with that,” he said. “I didn’t like lying to her about it anyway. It’s bad enough I can’t tell her about...well, you know,” he said and then his face changed as an idea came to him. “You know what...I think Im going to make myself a cocktail and go sit in the hot tub for a while. I recall there being one just off the pool. And its very private. I’ve never seen you in a bathing suit. Right now I think i want to mess around in the hot tub with you...anything to get our minds off of this. You like Frozen Daiquiris? I can make those,” he said.

“ I’ve come a long way for you Serena. And whomever has come to hurt is asking for trouble,” he said as he headed toward his drawer. He found the bathing suit, a blue boxer short style and twirled it around his finger as he turned around and smiled at her. His hand went to his belt and he saw her shift to look at him. His cheeks colored a bit but he didn’t turn away as he got undressed.

Natalya listened to Steve and took another drink from her water bottle. She closed the lid and looked at him. “I’m just not sure Logan and I are the marrying types. Yes, we’re in love and want to be together but do we really have to get married?”

She picked up her towel and wiped her face and neck. “Speaking of children, are you and Kate going to have any?”

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Serena nodded when Peter explained to her what he had told his aunt. She knew he hated lying to her and at least she knew he was safe. Serena didn’t want to put his aunt in danger and so she would not be going anywhere near her house until this was all over. Hopefully it would be soon because she couldn’t remain locked up in the Tower forever.

She looked over at Peter when he suggested they go relax in the hot tub with a cocktail. That sounded like a wonderful idea. She pulled out her swimsuit, a red bikini, and looked at Peter with a little smile. “So I didn’t wear bikinis in that other timeline?”

“I think Kate would do it if I asked her to but being pregnant puts her out of commission for quite a while. Then there’s balancing being an Avenger over being a mother. I know Isabella did it so who knows,” he said. He had planted the seed about marriage to Natalya. He wondered if she’d think more about it in the days to come.

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Peter shrugged. “You did until the babes then you were more modest,” he said and nearly laughed at her reaction. “Then it was all one piece suits,” he said as he pulled on his trunks. When she lifted up her shirt peter was there in an instant. He held her arms up and her shirt covered her eyes. He kissed her lips and he felt them curl up into a smile. “Actually, I’m just kidding, you always wore bikini’s. Though sometimes, you wore nothing at all,” he said in her ear then helped her out of her shirt. He waited for her to expose her breasts and was not bashful about touching them. She knew he liked her body and he smiled as he stepped away from her. “I’ll make a pitcher for us,” he said and headed out to the kitchen.

The hot tub was perfect. And he brought a coldstone to set their cups and pitcher on while they lounged in the hot, bubbling water. Peter sat with a jet right in the middle of his back...it felt wonderful there and he spread his arms just over the top of the large tub and tilted his head back and closed his eyes as the rest of his body floated in the bubbly water. “God, this feels good!” he said.

Kate was back in her and Steve's room when he came back from the workout. She looked over at him and smiled a little. Although she liked Steve clean shaven, this new look with the beard was nice too. It made him look a little more rugged. "Did you have a good workout with Natalya?"

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Serena put on the bikini and then she and Peter went to the hot tub after he had made the pitcher of Daquiris. They turned the jets on and got in and almost immediately Serena began to relax. She had pulled her hair up into a messy bun to keep it from getting wet and she sank down low enough that her shoulders were covered by the water. The jets felt amazing and she didn't realize just how tense she had been these past few days until one of the jets began to work at her shoulders. She smiled as she watched Peter and then reached over and grabbed her glass and took a sip. "So...you're practically living here at the Tower right now...after this whole situation is taken care of are you going to go back to Aunt May's?"

“Well, what do you think I should do? What do you ‘want’ me to do? Aren’t you bored of me yet?” He asked with his eyes closed. He was in just the right position for his back and didn’t want to move. He could sense that Serena was across from him. The hot tub was large enough for everyone to be in it at the same time. Logan loved the hot tub and more than once he and Natalya were caught doing very nasy things in it. Peter had caught them himself and wondered to himself if Serena would ever do anything like that. And if they were caught, would anyone call them down for it? He didn’t know. He didn’t know anyone all that well save for Serena and to a degree, Natalya.

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“Yeah, I asked her about her and Logan getting married and she asked me about why I haven’t gotten you pregnant yet. I was wondering that myself. I mean, don’t you ever think about it? Having someone, or several someones carrying on our family lines? Since all of this...craziness, I’ve been thinking about it more often,” He said honestly. He was always honest with Kate though sometimes his honestly was more brutal than not. But, she knew what she was getting when she married him and bought the whole farm.

Serena looked at Peter. "Of course I'm not bored with you. This isn't about what 'I' think you should do Peter. This is about what 'you' want to do. We are still young though. I suppose we don't have to rush into anything. I guess I just like having you around."

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Kate was rather surprised by what Steve said and she looked over at him. She had done some laundry and was folding the clothes on their bed. She became quiet and pensive for a moment as she considered what he had told her. "Steve, I would like to have a child...but I don't think I can be both a mother and an Avenger. I realize that Isabella made it work...but it was extremely difficult. I love my job and I'm not sure I want to give it up. We both choose to do this and that decision comes with some sacrifices. I understood that when I agreed to join the team."

Steve was about to say more than just decided not to. Instead he just smiled and nodded in understanding. He approached this subject the wrong way he thought. Just blurting it all out like that was not how to open up a dialog. He was on the fence about children but Kate was right. She’d be the one having to make sacrifices. Well, more sacrifices than he and that was likely why she was against this. The older he got though...the more he wanted a family. He didn’t know how to tell that to Kate though.

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“Is me moving in ‘rushing’ into anything? We’re just more or less living together. Boyfriend, girlfriend. Fellow colleagues and maybe Avengers,” he said and then winced. “Well, actually thats kind of dangerous. I mean, what if we broke it off? We do everything together. In that sense we are taking quite the risk being together at all. But, as you know. I’ve seen what we will become and I’m not willing to walk away from that...or you. But we’re not going to break it off, I simply won’t allow anything to come between us,” He said with a smile and tilted his head down to look at her. He reached and got his glass and then sucked down the drink and set it back down.

Kate looked at Steve and could tell that even though he nodded and smiled at her that he was still thinking about it. She sighed a little bit, but didn't bring the subject back up. Instead, she moved back to Logan and Natalya.

"So, why were you asking Natalya about whether she wanted to get married or not? Did Logan put you up to that?" It certainly sounded to her like something he would do.

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Serena looked at Peter. "Well, I would like for you to be here with me, but I would understand if you want to remain with your aunt a little while longer." She then gave him a little smile. "I don't want you to get sick of me."

Steve just shrugged as he thought about it. “No, he didn’t put me up to it,” Steve said. “I just wanted to see where her mind was on the subject,” He said and then took another drink out of his water bottle distractedly.

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Peter laughed at that and then shifted and came slowly toward her in the water. Serena sat on the ledge that went around the tub and he knelt before her and wrapped her legs around his waist. He then took her arms and put them around his neck. “No, I’m not sick of you yet,” He said with a smile. And just like that her bikini top was free of her body and he shifted it behind him to float in the bubbles. He pressed her body up to his and kissed her. “I’m glad that you want me to stay with you Serena,” Peter said softly as his hands moved down to her butt. “I love you Serena. Your beautiful, smart, creative and I need you in my life,” he complimented.

Kate could see that Steve was distracted and something was on his mind. What she couldn't figure out though was if it had to do with Natalya and the whole subject of marriage, or the baby issue. She got up from the bed and moved over to Steve and slipped her arms around his waist and looked at him. "What's wrong Steve?"

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Meanwhile, Isabella sat in the office and called up Frank to see how things were progressing. "Hi Frank," she said when he picked up. "I was just calling to see if you had any information yet."

Steve sighed. “Richard’s death just got me thinking. Knowing Peter is from another timeline where Serena died and her nearly being killed here...I know this is what we signed up for but, is this all there is for us? Just to fight until we’re killed or so injured we can no longer fight?” He said. Her arms around him were soothing but he had been thinking about this alot lately. He shrugged.

“I guess I just wanted more,” He said cryptically but it was clear what he was referring to.

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“Frank wasn’t surprised to get Isabella’s call and he got up from his chair and closed the door so he could talk to her. “We’ve got some leads but nothing concrete. Nothing I can give you as a sure thing Isabella. I wish I had more for you,” He said. “I know the clocks ticking. How are you holding up?” He asked.

Kate of course knew what Steve was referring too and it hurt her slightly to think that she wasn't enough for him. However, she would never say that out loud. She sighed and pulled back away from him and rubbed her face as she thought about everything. Kate, at one point, had thought about children, but giving up that thought had actually been a weight off of her shoulders. Raising a child in this kind of life was not fair...not to the child nor to the parents. Isabella and Tony had done it, and now she was watching the results of that life come back to haunt them.

"Steve, if a child is what you really want then we would have to leave this life," she said as she gestured around them. "I won't raise a child while were still Avengers. Tony and Isabella did it and now Serena's life is in danger. It's one or the other. I won't do both." Kate wasn't angry, but she was being truthful and honest.

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"I...I'm fine..." Isabella lied, but Frank would hear her voice cracking as tears threatened to fall. "Alright...that's a lie. I'm not sleeping. Every sound I hear in the Tower makes me think someone has gotten inside, even though I know it's not possible. I'm such a terrible parent putting Serena through this kind of life."

“Kate, your a mutant and an agent and I’m a soldier. But we’re also just people. Why would you think exposing a child to what we do as a bad thing? Helping people? Protecting the world? How is that a bad thing? Serena would never say that she is regretful. Her parents are doing what they can for this world. You and I can say the same. I guess it bothers me that you think we have to trade one for the other. I just don’t agree,” Steve said.

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“Isabella, you know that that’s simply not true. Everything you and Tony do for the world, I highly doubt Serena would regret the decisions you’ve made. You can’t blame yourself for this situation. You can’t stop crazy. You can only deal with it. And that’s what we’re doing, we’re dealing with it. We’re zeroing in on someone, the daughter of John Morley aka Ghost, Hannah Morley. MIT graduate, former Navy Seal. And she has bright red hair and green eyes,” He said.

Kate sighed and looked at Steve but decided that now was not the best time to argue about this. She walked back over to him and put her arms back around him and looked up at him. "I don't think that now is the best time to discuss this Steve. You and I have so much else on our minds right now. This is possibly the biggest decision that you and I are ever going to make and I want us to have clear minds and to have weighed all of the pros and cons before we decide anything. Let's just wait until this whole situation with Serena is taken care of and we can revisit this. Does that sound reasonable?"

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Hearing Frank mention a possible name of the suspect made Isabella's heart nearly stop. What he was describing certainly fit the bill. As a former Navy Seal she would have the weapons training that this person clearly had and she matched physically. There was just one thing that bothered her. "It's strange though because we were all under the assumption that this person was going after Serena was retaliation against Tony and I...but Serena was actually the one who killed John Morley."

“Alright Kate, we’ll talk about it another time,” Steve said as he leaned down and kissed her.

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Logan and Natalya were in the gameroom playing pool. They had beers on a stool nearby the table and Logan lined up another shot. With a hard flick of his wrist the pool cue hit the white ball and the white ball hit a striped yellow ball and the ball rolled to the corner pocket but bounced off the edge. Natalya was armed just like Kate was by Tony’s request. Steve’s shield was nearby him but Logan’s weapons were inside of him. He wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans with white tennis shoes. He shifted and stood back a step as Natalya came up to shoot. She was very good at pool but Logan won, sometimes anyway. She had those tight, black yoga pants he liked because they showed off her butt. As she leaned over the table he reached over and squeezed her left buttcheek just as she snapped the ball. The cue ball hopped off of the table and Logan laughed. He had a mischievous streak going today. Earlier he stood in front of her as she shot. Bent over as she was to shoot she was looking almost directly at his crotch.

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Dax who was listening with his drone nearly choked when he heard what Isabella said. He played it all back to make certain because there was an enormous amount of interference from the energy field. If he told Hannah this she’d continue to focus on the girl. He didn’t like that she was targeting Serena. If he told her this she’d likely lose it and go after the girl twice as hard.

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“They still might be. How could they know who killed Morley? Did any of you say anything? I don’t recall any of that in the police report,” Frank said. “We have no concrete proof its her though Isabella and we need to be certain,” he said. “Micro is tracking down something we found. The components used to make it are not common so we should know more soon. Please try and be patient. I know this is important,” Frank said.