I watched them carefully. Now wasn't the time to question my motives or how I'd do it. Now was the time for action. Never was it a time for the questions, never a time for answers. It's always just actions. But when you're on stakeout then you got to live to ask the questions. I don't get paid for just anything. I know the places to go to get the stuff, the people to talk to, and the people to avoid. I was supposed to be the stakeout operator while someone else was the delivery man. I was just supposed to watch and observe while one of my men went in to do this. Sure, I'm young. That doesn't mean that I don't know what to do. I know everything about everyone the second my hand touches their arm and that means that I'm excellent at information. I'm not excellent, however, at stakeouts. I don't actually come into contact with the subject. I don't know anything about this person. "What you got, Derry?" Derry is short for Dahlia in our books so it's my nickname/codename.
"Nada, nothing, Zippo, zilch; so don't ask again every five seconds." I answered into the com unit. "Jeez, someone's got a stick up their—," He said but I suddenly leaned forward right as I saw the subject move in his room. "We got the subject moving, Corpse," I said into my unit. "What do you mean? What's he doing?" He asked. I leaned forward, squinting my already super-heightened eyes to see inside the room. I could see every detail through the window. The subject was a man of late fifties, early sixties and yet very physically fit to say the least. He was suspected of illegal crime organization works. "I see him; he's on his laptop, should be logging in now. Pull up the data, Fudge," I said into the unit. "Sure thing," Fudge's girly squeaky voice said as she began to type away in the van that they stuck in nearby.
My name is Dahlia Nero and I work with the agency of Hyper Active Spies, HAS for short. It's a lame name that Fudge (Daphne Sports) came up with and it's an amateur detective agency for those who need service on low-pay. Corpse (Jacob Harold), Fudge (Daphne Sports) and I (you know!) work together ever since we escaped. We all escaped from the School when Fudge was six, I was nine and Corpse was sixteen. Now I'm fourteen, Corpse is twenty-one, and Fudge is a happy eleven. Isn't that great? We're an agency that works with an eleven-year old fashionista! Despite the age differences I act as leader, Corpse as second-best and Fudge as our technical engineer.
"He's logging into his e-mail right now," Fudge said into the com unit. I nodded absently from inside my car. I was prepared to go in there this instant and beat his ass but without evidence and without an actual BADGE I can't do much of anything. I mean, I may be the best spy in this damn country but that doesn't mean that I actually have a badge. No, apparently you got to be at least eighteen in order to get one. And that would be a miracle even at that age. I sighed in exasperation and broke off another piece of frozen Hershey's Cookies and Cream bar. It was frozen because I was frozen. Not literally.
It was just the fact that it was nearly sub-zero and everything seemed to emit some kind of mist from the classic winter-wonderland. I yawned again and breathed into my gloved hands. I was wearing my wool black trench coat and a pair of jeans along with a black t-shirt and a pair of cuddly black winter boots. The coat was buttoned up all the way and my gloves were keeping my hands a toasty above nothing degrees. My blond hair was covered by a pair of black fuzzy earmuffs and that was it. "I hate winter," I mumbled. "Yeah, yeah, we get it. Frankly, I love it." Corpse said and chuckled evilly. "That's because you like to be around the peers of snow." I said. Corpse could emit ice and cold so winter was like home to him. "Yeah, yeah; let's get back to business. What's he doing now?" Corpse asked. I looked up into the window and blinked. "He's…um, well, he's no longer on the computer." I said.
"What do you mean? What's he doing?" Corpse asked. "Um, well…he's doing something else." I said and blushed, looking away. Fudge's giggle erupted in my ears. "He sent this one girl a message. It said for her to 'come on in'. I'm guessing that's what he's doing, Corpse." Fudge giggled. "Okay, honestly? It's a sex-scandal we're after?" Corpse whined with a sigh. "Well, he is a multi-billionaire. He is able to pay for the 'services' so I doubt he's going to put that to waste." I said into the earpiece. "Jeez, don't you start too, Derry," Corpse grumbled into my ear. "Start the recording, it could be a trick." Fudge told me. I blinked and I'm sure my face was beat-red because that part of me was no longer cold. "How exactly do you expect me to record this?" I hissed into the earpiece. "Just tap into the feed from the room and we should be able to hear and see them with exceptional clarity." Fudge said. "Why can't you do that?" I said into the earpiece. "Because I wanted to see your reaction," Fudge giggled and I heard the faint clicking of the keyboard in front of her.
"Oh, I recognize her. That can't be good." Corpse said a moment later. "What do you mean you 'recognize her'?" I snapped into the earpiece. "Not like that, idiot. I mean, she's a navy officer's wife. Oh, we just uncovered something about a navy officer we do not like." Corpse said with a sigh. "Well, it's not our fault. We were on a completely different case, Corpse." I said with a shrug. "But if this has anything to do with a navy officer, there's no doubt that NCIS will get into this." He said. I rolled my eyes. "We don't know that. There hasn't been anything with her husband, has there? Fudge, check it out." I said into the com unit. "Right-o, boss," Fudge joked as she began to click away on the keyboard. "Nothing at all with her hubby," Fudge answered a moment later. "All's fun in love and war," She said. I could practically see her face brighten up in the dim of the van. We were all pale except for Corpse who is ironically tan and healthy-looking. "Oh, right. Whatever, Fudge. See, Corpse? NCIS has no business in a sex-scandal." I said and sighed as I looked. "You watching the recording?" I asked. "Yeah, we are." Corpse said. "Anything other than the usual?" I asked.
"Not really. Just the usual…movements. Yuck," Corpse said faintly. "Don't say shit like that, Corpse. You know it's natural. Besides, it's not our place to judge. It's the person's." I said. "No, I said 'yuck' 'cause we're watching this. It's a private moment for them and not our place to be the audience." Corpse said. "Don't go off about the stakeout, Corpse. It's our job and he should've thought about that before he went off on that stupid-ass organization." I said. "Is he killing her yet?" I joked and smirked. "No, not yet," Corpse said faintly. "What do you mean 'yet'?" I asked. "I was just using your words, Derry," Corpse said and I could practically see him rolling his eyes. "Whoa, wait a second; what's that, Fudge?" Corpse suddenly asked. "What is it?" I asked and leaned forward on my seat, looking up in the window. "There's a…shit; get up there, Derry," Corpse said. I didn't need any more encouragement as I sprung out of the car and into the building. "Room 101 on the second floor; remember that; hurry." Corpse instructed me. "Hey, shut it." I said as I flew up the stairs.
My faster-than-normal speed allowed me onto the second floor before anything could happen. "What am I doing, Corpse?" I asked. "You're saving him from a sniper. I suspect it'll be quite the buzz-kill when he dies right on top of that officer's wife." Corpse answered. I rolled my eyes. "We want to put him in jail, not get him killed." Corpse answered. I rolled my eyes. "Right, whatever," I mumbled as I arrived at the room. I whipped out my regular stationary gun and kicked in the door.
The woman screamed at the interruption while I blushed. "Right, anyways," I mumbled. "Get up, now," I ordered them. The pair got up with the woman covering herself with the blanket. "What's this about?" Mr. Clarkson (our subject) asked angrily. "That's what this is about," I said as I rushed to the window and aimed my gun at the sniper. I couldn't very well kill him but should I? I mean, I could claim it was attempted murder. "Corpse, should I shoot him?" I asked. "No, he would've fired the first shot if he was any danger." Corpse said. "Then why the hell am I up here?" I hissed in the com unit. "Because, you're there to keep him alive and not to kill the other person. Just get him into a safe spot while I'm on my way to the sniper." Corpse answered and I heard his feet beating against the ground. At that moment…the sniper shot. The bullet just grazed my arm but it still hit like a mother! "What the hell?" I hissed into the com unit as I lifted my gun and set off a round of shots. "Stop shooting or you'll kill ME instead of HIM." Corpse hissed. I rolled my eyes and stopped.
"Oh, shut up and get him." I hissed into the com as I looked down at my arm. Blood was oozing from where the bullet was lodged in. "Damn," I hissed as I bit my lip. I never did like bullets. "You hit, Derry?" Corpse asked. "Yeah, but it didn't go too deep." I said into the com. "You got the son of a—," I said but Corpse cut me off. "Yeah, I got him, Derry. Remember, there's still a kid." He said. I rolled my eyes. "The one who was giggling at a sex scandal?" I shot back.
Corpse chuckled. "Yeah, that's the one. Now, shut it." He said and I heard a slight clanging. "I'm going to take him in while you get out of there. We just blew our cover to save this jerk so we might as well tell that this guy has someone after him." Corpse said. "To who?" I asked as I waved at the couple before leaving. "Well, first we're taking this guy in. Then we're taking you to the hospital. Then we'll have to tell authorities." Corpse said. I winced. This had to be important if he wanted to go to cops. He hated them like mothers! "Right, and what exactly do we say? Should we just blurt out about our job, not get paid then go to being broke and off the job?" I asked. "Shut it and get a touch," Corpse hissed at me. I nodded as I went back into the room. "I'm sorry for the excitement." I said as I touched the guy's bare arm.
My sight and mind were completely hazed over with Mr. Clarkson's memories and I nodded absently on my way out. I felt my way out as I watched his most recent ones. He was indeed with the secret organization. "He's with them," I said and headed out as my sight came back in spots. "Great; now we just need some real evidence." Corpse said. "Right, but how the hell will we do that?" I asked. "It's your decision. We can either go get help from NCIS and name it as a Navy sex scandal or we can try it all out on our own. Tell me, Derry," He said. I rolled my eyes. I hated when he made sense. "Fine, asshole," I hissed into the earpiece.
=3=
"Daniel Clarkson," Corpse said as he dropped the file onto Special Agent Gibbs's desk. I wrinkled my nose in distaste at the picture of him. It showed a surveillance photo of him answering the door to Maria Anderson (the navy officer's wife). "We can go with a 'sex scandal' between him and that navy officer's wife or we can go with him being an asshole whose been dealing drugs and violence for the past ten years." Corpse said. I rolled my eyes and turned to Fudge. "He's just doing this to make himself look all high and mighty." I mumbled to her. She giggled and nodded. "Right and you wouldn't do the same, Derry?" Corpse said as he turned back to me for a moment. "So, you're suggesting we help you with a gang boss?" Gibbs interrupted my answer.
I nodded in answer for him. "We are, Gibbs. We don't expect you to but it'd be a hell of a lot easier for us. We prefer to not go broke and that would insist that we require help in keeping the subject secure until we have rock-hard evidence that puts him away for good." I said. My arm was still in its sling from last night's 'service'. "Besides, this puts a navy officer's wife in danger as well seeing as she's involved with Daniel Clarkson." I added with a slight shrug. Gibbs's eyes shot to me and he gave me a quick once-over. "And you have children doing work for you?" He said to Corpse with a raised eyebrow. I smirked. "Wrong," I said. "I have him working for me." I said to him. Gibbs raised both eyebrows at me. "I don't get a badge 'til I'm eighteen." I explained.
"Therefore I need someone with a badge and I do most of the handy work." I said to Gibbs. "If you don't like that then we can work this alone." I said. "I say we work with him, Gibbs." A thick Arabian voice said from behind me. I turned halfway and raised an eyebrow. "Pray tell," I urged her on. "Well, this girl is obviously injured and cannot work the physical work. Besides, in Arabia plenty of younger citizens were the bosses of many organizations simply because they were smarter." The woman said. I smirked. "Thanks for giving her an even bigger head." Corpse said, rolling his eyes. I rolled my eyes right back.
"Shut up, Corpse." I said before turning to the woman. "What's your name?" I asked. "Special Agent Ziva David," She said and shook my free hand. "Right, I'm Dahlia Nero; this is Daphne Sports and Jacob Harold." I said, pointing to each in turn. "How exactly did you come across this case, Miss Nero?" Ziva asked me. I sighed and frowned. "We work as Hyper Active Spies or HAS for short. That's what we get for having a six year old name us." I said and rolled my eyes. "That was a lucky five years ago so thankfully we've had some experience in this field." I said. Corpse rolled his eyes, leaning against Gibbs's desk until Gibbs cleared his throat and Corpse got off. "We'll talk to our director and see if there's anything we'll be able to do." Gibbs said. I smiled quickly before nodding. "Right, thanks," I said before nodding to the elevator for the others. Corpse quickly winked at Ziva before heading off. I rolled my eyes as I followed them away. "Thanks for you help," I said pointedly to Ziva who nodded.
The elevator doors closed in front of us to show a respectable reflection of all three of us. "Are you sure we can trust them?" Fudge asked from the right hand corner. "Absolutely; they're authorities, not against us." Corpse said with a shrug. "But they could easily be undercover as School Whitecoats. We could be falling right into their trap." Fudge said worriedly. I reached back with my free hand and ruffled her hair. "Right, but I doubt they are. Ziva isn't part of the School and I can trust her. Despite her previous actions she's actually quite a considerable person." I said with a shrug. "Right, let's just get home." Corpse said as we exited the elevator. I climbed into the front seat next to Corpse who was driving while Fudge went in the backseat and lay down. "I'm tired," She complained. "We'll be home as quick as we can, Fudge." I said and leaned my head against the window. "Okay," Fudge said but she was already half-way asleep.
We got home quickly to the small make-shift headquarters downtown. It was just a small area with a couple of desks and a couch in the small lobby area. There were a couple of rooms down the hall and we quickly went to our rooms. I lived in my own room as did both of the others. Just imagine the Psyche headquarters from the show and that's basically ours but in D.C. I sighed as I changed into my pajamas. My arm would be healed by tomorrow but it's always nice to fool the enemy with a sign of weakness that could be used as strength.
I flopped onto my bed, wincing as I jostled my arm. "Damn weakness," I whispered to myself as I turned onto my good side and pounded my pillow. I was dressed in a pair of fluffy black pajama pants and a black tank top. My black denim comforter was pulled comfortingly over my body and bringing me at least some warmth in the night. Ziva and I could get along and that was cool. I didn't have any friends other than Fudge and Corpse and they were more like family.
Next thing I knew I was being woken up by a small hand. I blinked awake and looked at the little girl in front of me. Fudge was wearing a long little girl's princess pink nightgown and had a little stuffed unicorn in her arms, held tightly. "What is it, honey?" I mumbled groggily as I sat up slightly. "I had a nightmare," She said and looked around. She looked wary and I nodded. Of course she'd had a nightmare. We all had them from time to time but they were mostly more than nightmares; they were memories. "Sure, sweetie, come here," I said and cleared my throat as Fudge crawled into my bed beside me. She cuddled up into my side and I sighed. "Okay, go to sleep," I said to her softly. "It'll be fine, okay? They're gone. They're not coming back. We're safe. We're fine. We're not going to be hurt anytime soon." I said in a soothing voice to her. It was all going to be fine…
A/N: I disclaim all; happy to say that I do own Fudge, Corpse and Derry. Yay!