The Package

Disclaimer and Notes: Panzer/Davis owns 'em; I just play. This is based on a Raven dream (posted after the story) posted on the Rysher Raven Forum by Elaine on December 31, 1998.

By Raine Wynd

It was supposed to be a simple job. But Amanda should've remembered that anything Bert Myers touched was never simple. The three-story building — an old rooming house — itself was a challenge. Nick had had to lower her through a vent shaft in the roof, then she'd crawled through the shaft to the third floor, getting dust all over her brown, sleeveless tunic top and matching pants. Of course Bert would insist in the middle of her lunch with Nick that her talents were needed now. Bert wouldn't allow them to go back for her gear, insisting that the job could be done with the rope he'd had in his station wagon. Where did Bert get the idea that she was some kind of magician? And Nick had looked so good today, with that white tank top showing off his muscles....

She shook off the dust as she shrugged off the thoughts and disappointment. She was here now, and she was needed. She exited the closet she'd landed in, finding herself in a long, open hallway with an elevator at one end. There were doors to unmarked rooms, but she took no notice of them, running for the elevator, since she could see no stairwell. She had exactly fifteen minutes to get the job done.

The elevator, which looked uncannily like the one in her apartment building, took an eternity to reach the second floor. She ran for the opposite end of the hallway, the rooms becoming a blur as she dashed past, the tails of her tunic flaring out behind her. She skidded around the corner as she turned, swearing.

She counted doors until she came to the fifth one on her left. The knob turned easily, and she sent a small prayer of thanks heavenward. The door opened to reveal an electrical closet, as Bert had promised. Her fingers ran lightly over the panels until she found the latch to the main fuse panel.

It refused to budge.

She swore eloquently. She had no tools. The only way to get the panel off was with a screwdriver. What she wouldn't give for her purse right now....

Think, Amanda, think.

A smile crossed her face as she remembered a trick an old friend had taught her. Slipping off her belt, she examined the latch, eyeing the thin metal and comparing it to the screws. It would just—

Nine agonizing minutes passed. Four screws lay in a twisted jumble at Amanda's feet, and her belt was useless, but she had the package Bert had wanted her to retrieve. Government secrets, he'd said vaguely, and while Amanda thought hiding such an important parcel in a fuse box was something out of a James Bond movie, Bert *had* promised a huge sum of money if she delivered. She was not one to argue with that.

She rose to her feet and took the elevator down to the first floor. She ran out the door and down the street, not looking back. Crazily, Bert's station wagon careened to a stop beside her, and Nick reached for her, pulling her inside in one swift motion.

"Did you get it?" Bert snapped as he floored the accelerator.

"Of course," Amanda drawled, trying for a calm tone even while her heart raced.

Less than sixty seconds later, the building exploded, but by then, Bert, Amanda, and Nick were long gone.

The original dream was:

I had a RAVEN dream... Posted by Elaine on Thursday, 31 December 1998, at 12:32 p.m.

I woke up and said, "Hey, that was the Raven!"

I got to be Amanda, but I was also watching Amanda — more like a camera than a Watcher, though. Amanda and Nick had to get something out of a building, which for some reason was three stories tall but only had an elevator and the hallways — there were no rooms off the hallway (don't you just love dreams?). Amanda took the elevator to the second floor where the security box was located. But she had no tools and had to unscrew the screws by hand. They were running out of time, but at the last moment she managed to dismantle the device. Then she ran for the elevator (not surprisingly, it looked like the one in her building) and out the front door. She ran down the street, and a station wagon pulled up. Someone else was driving, and Nick was in the passenger seat. She paused, and I remember thinking (in the dream) "Nick really is gorgeous!"

Then I woke up. I know there was more to the dream, and I made a real effort to remember the details. But they're gone. Maybe if I go back to sleep?

Unfortunately, I can't tell you much else about my dream. Let's see, Amanda was wearing brown — some sleeveless top with pants outfit. Nick was gorgeous, and I think this took place after he shaved the stubble. He'd been in the building at some point, but I don't know how he got out to the car so fast.