I've been working on an epic and long Time Crisis fanfic called Temporal Fates. Three years later, I'm ALMOST ready to post the first chapter (yes, I know I'm an awfully slow writer). However, I was recently rewatching a playthrough of TC5 to double check some stuff and this idea came to me. When I played TC5 with my long–suffering beta elegant malice back in 2015, I was hoping that the game would reveal a different agent was the traitor, and we would have two legendary former player characters working in sync as our backup. This fic is an attempt to imagine what other scenarios might have happened when the case opened and revealed the traitor's identity.
I know it's usually supposed to be 5 things for this type of fic, but I honestly couldn't think of what I would have written for Alan or Wesley. Admittedly, the 3rd traitor is an example of being creative rather than strictly extrapolating from canon, but I can't really do that for Alan and Wesley as well or their entries would end up sounding rather repetitive.
This is just a what if scenario; I am not suggesting that any of the traitors in this fic would actually do something like that in canon. (Then again, I never thought that Robert would be the traitor in canon either, but that topic is a whole different can of worms better addressed in Temporal Fates. If I ever get around to finally posting the first chapter.)
The case opened. The rookies leaned in to look at the data, guns still pointed at Keith.
"What? That's not possible." Marc's eyes were impossibly wide as he stared at the data.
Frowning, Robert pushed past the rookies and bent over to look at the screen.
After completing my investigation, I have discovered that Agent Richard Miller is the leak. He appears to have been selling information to various enemy organisations for the past few years, including the Hamelin Battalion during the Terror Bite incident. Given the vast network of contacts involved, I suspect Agent Miller's motivation for selling VSSE intel is the money he stands to gain from doing so. This briefcase contains all the files I have uncovered over the course of my investigation as evidence of his dealings.
Report compiled by VSSE Officer Christy Ryan
Keith laughed bitterly. "What were you saying again about not trusting anyone working with Wild Dog?"
Robert looked awkward and unsure of himself. "Keith, I…"
"Save it. That nutjob killed Christy. Don't get in my way, or I'll cut you down too," Keith replied coldly.
"I don't get it. Agent Miller is a VSSE legend! How could he betray the agency just for money?" Marc exclaimed in disbelief.
"We can ask him once we find him." Robert seemed to have recovered his composure as he shut the briefcase with a click.
"Who said you're coming along?" Keith glared at his former partner.
"Technically, you're still considered a rogue operative at the moment. And if you really think you'll be able to take down Miller on your own, good luck," Robert shot back.
Keith held his glare for a moment longer before backing down. "If any of you slow me down, I'm leaving you behind," he warned them.
Robert's earpiece crackled at that moment. "Would someone please tell me what's going on?" An annoyed Catherine demanded.
"Why?" Keith glared at the man standing across from him. Despite his heated glare, his hands were shaking slightly as he aimed at his opponent.
Richard's hands, on the other hand, were perfectly steady as he aimed at Keith. He didn't seem at all bothered that Robert and the rookies were also aiming at him.
"I'm getting older. The VSSE isn't going to have much use for me anymore. A lifetime of service for the VSSE, and nothing to show for it but isolation and loss. I might as well play for my own side for once."
"You killed Christy," Keith snarled.
Richard shrugged. "She was in my way."
With an inarticulate yell, Keith fired at Richard, only for the veteran agent to dodge, dive behind cover and begin firing back.
The four agents took cover and began firing at Richard, but none of them were able to land a hit.
"Damn it. He's too fast!" Luke complained as a bullet whizzed past.
"…Keith, I know that look. What are you doing?" Robert suddenly asked.
Luke and Marc turned to see the older agent unsheathing his katana with a look of steely determination.
"That bastard wants to play hide and seek? Let's see how he likes tag."
"Are you crazy? You're going to get yourself killed!" Robert shouted.
Keith gave him a cynical smirk. "I'm already dead."
In the blink of an eye, he leaped out from his hiding spot and bolted towards Richard's position. The veteran agent's eyes widened and he began firing rapidly at Keith.
Keith managed to block the first few bullets with the blade of his katana.
The fourth bullet clipped him in the arm, eliciting a hiss of pain.
The fifth bullet struck his leg and he half–collapsed with a strangled gasp, still stubbornly dragging himself towards Richard with his good leg.
The sixth bullet hit him right in the chest. Keith finally cried out as his body spasmed in agony.
With a strength he should no longer have possessed, Keith lunged forward and yanked Richard out into the open before he could react.
Quick as lightning, the other three agents fired at Richard. This time, the bullets hit their mark. As Richard collapsed, Robert ran to Keith's side.
"You utter idiot! What were you thinking?" He yelled, trying to staunch Keith's bleeding wounds.
"He killed my girlfriend… I couldn't let him get away with it," Keith rasped.
"Save your strength," Robert scolded. "You're going to be fine."
"You're still a terrible liar." Keith laughed weakly and began coughing.
"Keith…" Robert swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."
Keith looked at him with glassy eyes and smiled the first genuine smile he'd seen since Christy's death.
"Do you think Christy's waiting for me? I'll tell her you said hi."
He exhaled wetly and went still.
Robert bowed his head for a long moment.
After what seemed like an eternity, he looked up at the other two agents, eyes burning with unshed tears.
"Let's bring him home."
After Robert and the rookies returned Christy's briefcase to the VSSE and made their report, Richard was posthumously disavowed for his actions.
Keith's name was posthumously cleared, and he was honoured as a VSSE agent who had died in the line of duty. He was buried alongside Christy.
The other two chapters are coming soon. I already know the gist of what's happening in the chapters; I just have to write it out.