Author's note: This story is set in an alternate universe where Nero and young Raven return to the site of the original glasshouse with intent to destroy it and kill Pietor and Anastasia (the back story revealed in Deadlock) only to find it had vanished without a trace. It had moved location and it's original building was destroyed in case Nero had managed to extract its whereabouts from her.
Raven was woken up by the beeping of her blackbox. She groaned, sat up and picked it up. "What do you need Max?" She asked, speaking into the device.
"Natalya, H.I.V. found something you need to see. Come to my office. Its urgent"
"I'm on my way" she answered, getting up off her bed and throwing on the nearest pair of trousers.
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The door to Nero's office slid open and Raven entered. She saw Max sitting at his desk sporting a look of concern. He glanced up."Natalya, H.I.V. found this footage from two days ago off of a security camera in Rue St. Denis, Paris. The footage shows two children that could possibly be - you know, what? It'll probably be easier if I just showed you".
He picked up a remote from his desk and pressed a button, starting a recording of grainy security footage.
Raven could make out two figures - a redheaded girl and brown haired boy, neither of whom could be over fifteen - sitting huddled in an alleyway. They were having what appeared to be a hushed discussion when the girl suddenly tensed, making gestures at the boy to be quiet. She took a shiny object out of her rucksack, a knife probably, and held it up, creeping forward and peering around a corner. She had obviously seen something threatening because she backed up a bit and dropped into a fighting stance with her knife at the ready, beckoning for the boy to join her. Three bulky men hurtled into the view of the camera with their guns raised and pointed at the two figures. The man in the middle of the trio reached for his equipment belt and fumbled for a radio but the boy and girl took advantage of his momentary distraction and sprang into action. In an incredible display, they disarmed all three men and knocked them unconscious at a pace even Raven found difficult to follow,before sprinting off as fast as they could in the other direction. The recording finished.
"Max, there's only one place I know of where they could have learned to fight like that" Raven breathed. "Do you think they're from… from the Glasshouse? Did they manage to escape?"
"I'm almost certain of it" Nero replied. He rewound the video a bit and zoomed in on the man with the radio. "His name is Gregory Sokolov. He's a known associate of the Furans. G.L.O.V.E have been trying to track him down for the past three months in an effort to obtain information about the current whereabouts of the Glasshouse. We're pretty sure he's one of the head guards in the damned place".
"I need to find that boy and girl" said Raven with determination. "They could have answers. Do we know where they are currently?
"No but I have H.I. scouring every piece of security footage we can find from today to see if he can locate them"
As if on que, the calm automated voice of the A.I broke up the conversation with "I've located them in the boulevard du Montparnasse. Should I notify the engineers to begin prepping a shroud?"
"Yes, do. Also wake up Chief Lewis and notify him of the situation. We may need backup so tell him to send his best men.
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As much as Lidiya hated the idea of stopping for a rest especially with their pursuers so close, she knew it was necessary. Her and Alexei had been travelling on foot for the past 48 hours with little water and food and no sleep. If they continued on this way, it wouldn't have been long until one of them keeled over from exhaustion.
Montparnasse was a nice place with charming buildings and cobbled roads. The stars were shining in the night sky. It was a pity that she couldn't enjoy the view for much longer as they had to be up and gone by the morning if they wanted to avoid an unpleasant encounter with the Glasshouse guards. While the guards seemed to have lost the two escapee's scent, it was difficult to tell for how much longer. They could even be close now, maybe less than a mile away waiting to close in. Lidiya shuddered and tried to suppress those thoughts. The only way she was going back to that wretched place was in the form of a corpse.
It was nearly time for Alexei to take the watch so she could get in some valuable sleep. She looked at him, snoring lightly with his mouth open. His brown hair was messy and unkempt and he was drooling a bit. Despite the tough and serious persona he adopted around almost everyone, he was an utter dweeb and she loved him for it.
She bent down and gently shook him awake. "Alright you've had your slee-" she stopped at the look in his eyes - the fleeting moment of terror as he tried to process where he was and how he got here.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine" he mumbled, pushing himself into a sitting position.
"You were having nightmares again, weren't you?"
Alexei looked at the ground and sighed, nodding his head yes. Nightmares were common. Lidiya had them too. Every time she closed her eyes she was plagued with memories from the Glasshouse she had been trying so hard to forget.
"Do you need to talk about it or…" she asked, hoping he was okay.
"No. I'll be fine" he replied as he got to his feet. "Get some sle-"
A quiet zapping sound whipped through the air and striking Alexei square in the chest. Lidiya dived for cover as her friend crumpled to the floor. She forced herself to stay calm and sneaked a peak at Alexei. He was still breathing, which meant still alive, and she let out a sigh of relief. She could not see any sign of trauma so he must have been hit with some sort of tranquilizer- a taser maybe?
"Focus" she scolded herself. "The exact weapon he was hit with doesn't matter right now. What's your plan?"
She waited in her hiding place for a few more seconds. She needed to get to Alexei and hide his unconscious body from whoever shot him. When the coast seemed clear she slowly emerged,staying in at the wall where it was more difficult to be seen before kneeling down and lifting him up with a grunt. He was around half a foot taller than Lidiya and had a wider build so carrying was proving a challenge. She needed to find somewhere to put him and soon.
After about a minute of stumbling she came across a skip. It certainly wasn't the most dignified hiding spot but under the circumstances no one could afford to be picky. She heaved him into the container and arranged the various rubbish as quickly as she could so it covered him. Hopefully their pursuers wouldn't find him.
"I'll come back for you as soon as I can" she whispered to the skip before taking a switchblade out of her pocket and darting away.
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Raven watched from an adjacent building as one of Chief Lewis's men took out the brown haired boy with a sleeper. The girl had dived for cover and could not be seen. She heard the chief's voice in her earpiece "The male target has been incapacitated. My men going to retrieve his body now"
"I'll go after the girl" she replied. "And Chief? Be careful. These children are dangerous and may not hesitate to kill you or one of your men"
"Rodger that" the chief replied.
Raven took out her sleeper and began to make her way down to the streets below, hoping this retrieval would be straightforward. The girl probably found a place to hide after her friend was shot and would be there now, waiting to pounce on his attackers when they came searching for her. She reached a back alley and carefully picked her way down it, keeping an eye out for any sign of movement and listening for any sound. She was interrupted by the chief in her ear once more.
"The male target's body is missing. The female must have hidden him"
Raven sighed. This wasn't good. She continued down the alleyway until she encountered a skip. "This could be good hiding place" she thought and bent down and moved away some of the garbage. There he was. She had found her guy. Raven reached up to her earpiece but a flicker of movement caught in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she spun around just in time to block a powerful blow from the girl she was trying to find. Even still, the force of it sent her staggering backwards. The girl wasted no time and unleashed a hail of kicks and punches which Raven, who was still dazed from the previous blow, found difficult to counteract. But luck seemed to be on Raven's side as her attacker lost her footing on the uneven ground, stumbling and allowing the assassin just enough time draw her sleeper, aim and pull the trigger, hitting the girl just as she drew her blade. She fell to the ground unconscious and Raven felt something she had not felt in a long time: guilt. She stared at the crumpled figure lying at her feet who was probably terrified out of her mind and ready to die if it meant her friend wasn't caught.
"Raven speaking" she spoke into her radio. "Both targets have been incapacitated. Load them on the shroud".