"Overwatch, this is Hot Stuff, can you read me?" His deep voice came over the feed, it was amazing how much he sounded like his dad sometimes. Truth be told, he looked like him too, which is how he got the name.
"Yes, I read you loud and clear," She responded, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear as she took a look at the monitors in the surveillance van, "I have you on video as well. Take that hall down about 200 yards then turn right. There should be a stairway that will take you to the third floor. According to intel, the package is located there."
"Overwatch, this is Red Leader," Another male voice, slightly higher than the first, came over the line, "I'm getting some bogeys on the infrared."
"Rodger that, Red Leader," Overwatch nodded, "Can you get your drones any closer to get a clear picture?"
"I'll see what I can do," Red Leader responded.
"Oh sure, you say his name," Hot Stuff's voice could be heard over the line.
"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, I am not calling you that," Overwatch huffed.
"But it's my code name," Hot Stuff protested.
"No, it's a nick name you got at the academy," Overwatch countered, "Now shut up and do your job."
"Say my name, Overwatch," Hot Stuff drawled over the line.
"Agent Woodcomb," Overwatch smirked from her van, "I will not be calling my cousin by that name."
"Hey, Auntie Sarah, remember that nice Ming vase Uncle Chuck got you that 'mysteriously' broke?" Hot Stuff taunted.
"Will you two shut up?" A female voice came over the line, "Every mission it the same damn thing. Besides, I thought the directors told you to find another code name, Woodcomb."
"Shut up, Grimes," Hot Stuff's voice shot back, "Where are you any way, I thought you were supposed to be my back up."
"I am your back up, numnuts," Grimes shot back, "I'm heading up the north stairs now."
"Overwatch, this is Brain Trust," Another male voice came over the line, "We have updated intel confirming the location of the package. It's there, but it's heavily encrypted."
"Son of a…" Overwatch swore, "Fine, I'm going in." She quickly swept her brown hair up under a cap, strapped on a tactical vest, and grabbed her dart pistol.
"Overwatch, I thought I told you to stay in the van," A warm baritone voice came over the line, "I thought I made myself clear."
"You did, Devil Dog," Overwatch rolled her eyes, "But I'm the only one remotely close that had the skill set to retrieve the package."
"Negative Overwatch," Devil Dog countered, "Stay in the gorram van! We will come back with a field trained operative to retrieve the package."
"They might move it in the interim," Overwatch protested, "I'm going in."
"Lisa, I said to stay put!" The sound of gunfire could be heard over the air, "Gorram it!"
"Hot Stuff in position,"
"Grimes approaching location," She was approaching the door when she noticed the young brunette known as Overwatch approach the package location, "What the hell do you think you are doing?"
"Getting the job done, what does it look like?" She snarked, slipping into the room and inserting the thumb drive to the computer. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as he pulled up analog prompts telling the computer to overwrite all protections and data dump onto the drive she'd inserted, "Piranha, eat your heart out."
"Overwatch, we have bogies approaching your position," Red Leader's voice came over the wire, "Whatever you are doing, finish it up quick. You're gonna have company."
"I got a bad feeling about this," Grimes raised her M1A tactical rifle to her shoulder and targeted the door.
"Will you relax, I'm almost…" Overwatch rolled her eyes, watching the screen closely, "Done!" She pocketed the thumb drive and ran over to Grimes, tapping her shoulder, "Let's get out of here."
"Stay on my six," The older woman instructed her.
Overwatch just gave her a look communicating that the comment had been unnecessary. Suddenly the door burst open, revealing an older man in his 40's with a scowl on his face.
"What the hell?!" He demanded, "No one is allowed in here."
"Sorry to hack and run but…" Overwatch fired three darts in to the man's chest and neck. "Grimes, let's move."
Grimes simply nodded and led the way back toward the stair case. About half way down, they met about a half dozen guards on the stairway, "What the Frack! It's like they're multiplying!"
"Are we dealing with guard-tribbles, Mac?" Overwatch teased only to have her teammate growl at her.
"If my Uncle wasn't sweet on you, I swear…" Grimes warned.
"You love me too, don't deny it," She smirked, raising her tranq pistols and firing high, while Grimes shot low. Within moments the guards were neutralized, and the women were once again on their way.
"Overwatch, what is your 20?" Hot Stuff called over.
"With Grimes exiting the North stairwell, we'll be at the van shortly and will meet you at the rendezvous point.
"10-4," Hot Stuff's voice confirmed.
The women dove into the van as another round of guards rounded the building, weapons raised. "Overwatch, Grimes, move out, I'll take care of these morons," The guards didn't have time to even fired before being felled one by one by an unseen gunman, "Ha! Still got it."
"Devil Dog hold off on the victory dance until we're all secure," Red Leader instructed.
"You know you're just about as bossy as your director." Devil Dog countered only to be met with the protests of Overwatch, Brain Trust, and Red Leader, which made him snicker.
"Just shut up and get to the rendezvous spot," Red Leader rolled his eyes as he secured the last of his drones and placed them in the back of his CIA-modded matrix. It wasn't much different from the one his father used to drive, except it was all black with the silver Carmichael Industries logo on the side. Closing the hatch, he folded his tall frame into the vehicle and headed off towards the meet up location.
Pulling into the parking lot, he saw the surveillance van parked along side a classic Crown Vic, and the new nighthawk. He carefully pulled into the space beside the surveillance van and approached the door, pausing momentarily to press his hand to the scanner to unlock the door.
Reaching the conference room, he found his whole team gathered with snacks and drinks as they usually did during the debriefs. "Alright, everyone sit down and shut up," He huffed, running his fingers through his dirty blond curls, "Well it wasn't pretty, but we got the job done. Kevin, you need to find a new code name, man." He looked at his cousin, "Lisa's right, it's uncomfortable for us to call you that."
"My dad was Six-Pack!" Kevin protested.
"Your dad didn't actually work for the agency," He countered, "Except for the few times hew as mistaken for my dad."
"Not awesome Jameson, not awesome at all," Kevin groused.
"We could just call you Lieutenant Awesome," Mackenzie Grimes offered, "Since your dad is Captain Awesome."
"Fine," Kevin acquiesced, "But I reserve the right to go back to 'Hot Stuff' if I ever get assigned to another team."
"Doubt that's gonna happen, man," Brain trust entered the room, "This is, above all a family operation."
"Hey Bryce, glad you could join us," Jameson smiled at his younger brother, "Did Lisa get the thumb drive to you?"
"Yeah, I have it analyzing right now." Bryce grabbed a soda and a package of combos before taking a seat at the table.
"Well, if this is a family operation, how do you explain Lisa and Vic's quasi incestuous relationship?" Kevin challenged.
"They're not related, numnuts!" Mac pointed out. "Despite us calling each other's parents 'Aunt and Uncle,' Victor and I aren't actually related to the rest of you."
"And what do you care about it anyway?" Victor turned toward Kevin.
"That's my baby cousin you're trying to seduce, leather neck!" Kevin shouted.
Both Mac and Victor rose at this, as they had been brought into the NSA from the corps. Both had gone to Annapolis and entered the Marine Corps as officers, continuing their family legacy. Argument broke out around the table over this.
"Ahem!" An older woman's voice cut through the cacophony. No one seemed to notice her or the older men who were with her on the view screen. Her husband to her right and her former partner to her left.
Kevin and Vic continued to provoke each other until they were about to come to blows when an even louder voice echoed through the room, "Stand down, Marine!"
Vic immediately stepped back and faced the screen at attention, "Yes, Sir."
"Really?" Sarah arched her eyebrow at the people in the conference room from her place on the screen. "You are all supposed to be the best of the best, and nearly every time we have a briefing you are at each other's throats!"
The younger adults all began to protest at once, "Quiet!" Sarah reprimanded, "You are family, every single one of you, you should be treating each other as such. I am sick of all this infighting! Now what is the problem this time?"
Noticing Lisa and Vic as well as Kevin looking sheepish, she rolled her eyes, "Not this again!" She huffed while Casey looked bored and Chuck tried to not laugh. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, you need to play nice, children."
The team all had the good sense to look sheepish at the admonishment. Chuck cleared his throat, "So, was the mission successful?"
"Yes," Jameson nodded, "We were able to retrieve the data, Bryce and Lisa are running it through the analyzation program as we speak. We should have the results shortly."
"Although someone is still having some issues staying in the van," Vic muttered.
"What was that?" Casey's focus turned to his son, "Speak up Marine."
"I said that Lisa is still not staying in the van," Vic repeated.
"I had to go," Lisa protested, "You were all pinned down and I was the only person close enough with the skill set to get into the system. We all got out alive and unharmed, didn't we?"
"That's not the point," Vic countered, "We were lucky that we were able to get in and out without team casualties."
"This sounds familiar," Sarah muttered, causing the men flanking her to snicker.
"It does, but they'll need to work it out on their own, just like we did," Chuck advised. "She does hold records at the academy, she really should be getting field experience."
"She needs to learn to do as she is told," Casey pointed out, "Especially if the plan is to have her intersected with version 7. Not only for her safety but the safety of the team."
Sarah had been watching the interaction of the team while listening to her husband and their friend debate the same matter, she saw a flash of something spark across her daughter's face and knew that everything was going to be alright.
"Vic, Kevin, Jameson, everyone," Lisa spoke up, "I know you want to protect me, but at the same time I need to be able to be out in the field, if I'm going to be an effective intersect agent, I need to know I can handle myself with or without it. What better way to prove that than to let me get some experience now? I can do this, partner me with someone to have my back if that will help you feel better about it."
Jameson thought her suggestion over for a moment, nodding as he considered the multitude of parings that could exist within the team. It didn't take long to reach a conclusion, "Lisa, you make a good point," He laid a hand on his younger sister's shoulder before turning to the monitor where the joint directors were still present, "If you agree, I think it would be advantageous to the team to have Lisa partnered with Vic. Not only will it make sense from an infiltration standpoint, as they can go in as a couple to most social situations, but their connection will work to their advantage as did the connection of the former agents Carmichael. Not to mention that Vic is our team's weapons and hand-to-hand expert, if anyone is most qualified to protect her, it would be him with or without their relationship coming into play."
"Agreed," Chuck nodded, "Sarah, Casey, any objections?"
"What about seduction situations?" Sarah quirked an eyebrow.
"I think they can handle it," Jameson assured the leadership, "If they can't we do have others on the team who have been trained on infiltration and inducement of enemy personnel. I don't foresee this as being an issue, in fact it could work as an advantage in some situations as they can play up the jealous girlfriend or boyfriend thing if needed."
"He makes a good point," Casey nodded, "I'm good with this."
"As am I," Chuck smirked.
"Then we are all in agreement," Sarah concluded, "Lisa and Vic will be partnered when in the field and the team as a whole will rotate through overwatch. Lisa, unless you are in overwatch, your callsign will be Valkyrie, I think it's about time to pass it on."
"Speaking of callsigns," Kevin spoke up.
"No." The trio of agency heads chorused, causing Kevin to sit dejectedly.
"What do you think of Hotshot?" Chuck suggested after thinking it over, "I mean his firearms scores are nearly matched to Vic's."
"Hotshot it is," Sarah agreed, "If there is nothing else?" She waited a moment to see if anyone else had something to add, "Good work team, we'll see you this weekend." With that the feed was terminated.
"I guess this means we'll have to rework the plan for the Costa Gravas mission," Jameson turned to his team.
"Ugh," Mac rolled her eyes, "The premier's son's cologne is practically a WMD and he always seems to target me when we are at the embassy."
"I seem to remember my mom saying the same of his father," Kevin chuckled.
"Seems like our family isn't the only one who is dealing with history repeating itself," Jameson noted.
"It's strange how things intersect like that isn't it?" Bryce nodded, and impish look on his face as his team booed and threw snacks at him as they dissolved into laughter.