"Ladies and gentlemen, we proudly present, a picturesque score of passing fantasy."
-"Introduction" Panic at The Disco
"Security door breached."
Agent Coyne's heart was racing. The CIA would be here, bursting through the doors at any given moment. It was time to leave.
"Security door breached."
The intercom sounded again, its calm voice sounding so out of place in such a dangerous situation. Coyne turned to Edwards. All of his leaders hard work, all of his struggle was about to be lost. Coyne cleared his throat for a few seconds before speaking. "Sir." He said loudly in the otherwise silent room. "We have to go." Edwards's eyes never left the blinking computer screen. He must have heard Coyne however, because he chuckled darkly, causing a shiver to run through Coyne's body. "Calm down Coyne." His leader said. "I must send this file first. It is incredibly urgent."
"Security door breached."
"Please sir" Coyne begged, his heart beating rapidly as his hands shook slightly. They were getting closer. "Nothing could possibly be worth-"
"This is." His leader interrupted a hard edge to his voice, his blue eyes growing stormy as his head sharply turned to Coyne. The young man dropped his head. "Yes sir." Said Coyne obediently. Seconds later there was a "ding!" heard at the computer and Coyne's leader smiled. "Done." He said. Coyne sighed in relief. "Now may we go?." He asked, his voice sounding helpless. Edward's smirked. "Yes Coyne. Now we may go. Hurry now before-
Suddenly, the two men heard footsteps. Coyne felt his blood run cold. He turned to his leader. For once in Coyne's life, he was afraid. Afraid of what lied on the other side of the steel door at the head of the office they were now standing in.
Agent Coyne's mouth opened, ready to speak but closed when he felt a parachute backpack being placed on his shoulders. "You have to leave." Edward's said. Coyne froze. "You have to leave." "You" You was singular. As in, only he was leaving. "Sir?" Coyne asked, unsure of what to say next. Edwards looked out the window. "I cant leave without being detected. There's too many of them and they're too close. Coyne's eyebrows arched in confusion. "No" he said. "No, you are coming with sir. We canleave undetected. We're spies for God's sake!" Edwards smiled sadly. He only ever smiled on rare occasions and Coyne had a sour feeling this occasion would be very rare indeed. "Declan." Edwards said. Coyne's eyes widened. In all of his four years of working with him, Edwards had only called him by his last and code name. Never his first name. "You are the only hope of breaking me out of the CIA. You need to leave. That is an order." As he finished his last statement, all traces of sentiment washed away from Edwards's face. Coyne felt a bit relieved. Sentiment did not suit Edwards well. He stared at the other man for a moment, unsure of how to execute a proper, yet professional goodbye. "I need you to protect my family. The CIA will be after them." Edwards said, his eyes boring deeply into Coyne's confused ones.
Edwards and his wife had divorced years ago. They had two daughters, however Edwards had not mentioned them much. His youngest daughter visited him sometimes, but that was the extent of it. Besides, Edwards's ex-wife and her two daughters had already been questioned about the whereabouts of Edwards by the CIA and they had been deemed that they both knew absolutely nothing.
"Why?" Coyne asked. "Protect my family." Edwards repeated, his bright blue eyes locking with Coyne's. "Protect them" With that, he pushed Coyne out the window and turned to face his demise.
Coyne fell for a few seconds before pulling his parachute and landing on a nearby building. Coyne looked up at the building he was in just five minutes ago. Even in the night sky, he could see and hear everything perfectly. Edwards's hands went up in the air as three men rushed into the room, all of their guns pointing at his head. And even though Coyne was quite far away, and now matter how hard he tried to block it out, he still heard it, loud and clear. "Randall Edwards, International arms dealer" A voice rang out, sounding rather smug. "You are under arrest."
. . .
"Gold, stop fidgeting." Simpson told me for the fifth time. I placed my hands down at my sides once again. "Sorry" Simpson chuckled. "It's fine. Don't be nervous Gold. In fact, you should be proud. All of this happened because of you. What's got you?" he asked. I stared down at my shoes. "I'm just…scared I guess." I admitted, shuffling my feet slightly. Simpson stared at me for a moment. "There is nothing to be scared of." He said, laying a hand on my shoulder. "You've done amazingly in this project. Without you, we would have never found Edwards." An involuntary shiver passed through my body. Edwards. The main reason we were here. The main reason I was here.
About two years ago I vanished from the face of the Earth.
At age fifteen a large man wearing a strange badge knocked on my front door. He had gripped my shoulders tightly and told me that my father was dead. I wasn't sure if it was the lack of blood flow from the man's iron grip or the sudden shock of never seeing my father's face again, but I felt lightheaded. The man then took my to a large building where I met Simpson. It was there that he told me of my father's life. The one my mother and I, along with the rest of the world, didn't know about.
"A secret agent?" I repeated stupidly. Simpson nodded, his lips twitching as though he wanted to smile at my shock. "No way. There's no way." Simpson held up one hand. I silenced myself immediately. "Your father applied to become an agent a few years before you were born. He was an amazing spy."
Simpson told me of my father's double life, how he spent years devoted to bringing down some of the most dangerous criminals in the world and sometimes, as strange as it sounded to me, saving the world. I remembered how trusting I had been with Simpson, despite the fact that I had just met him.
"Wait." I said once Simpson was done explaining. "What about my father's death?"
Simpson lowered his head. "For the past ten years, your father and two other men were working on one of, if not the most, important mission in CIA history." I leaned forward. "What was the mission?" I asked, my voice coming out louder than intended in the silent room. Simpson's blue eyes looked up to meet my jade ones. Simpson waited and cleared his throat before speaking again. "To find Randall Edwards." I felt confusion wash over me. Randall Edwards? The name was foreign to me. "You have never heard of him." Simpson said, as if reading my thoughts. "Who is Randall Edwards?" I asked, tracing lines in the cool, metal table. "Randall Edwards, a.k.a Edwards is a highly successful, but very dangerous, national arms dealer." I looked up, my interest sparked. Simpson took my eager eyes as a sign to keep going. "It was your father and his teammate's mission to track him down and destroy him."
"Many other men had been lost while attempting the same mission in the past. I assumed that your father's team would be different. But-"Simpson stopped himself, guilt evident on his face. "He was killed." I said my voice flat and emotionless. Simpson nodded gravely. "He and his partner had managed to infiltrate Edwards's hiding area. They made it as far as the hallway leading up to Edwards's office before…" Simpson looked at the table and I could have sworn there were tears glistening at the corner of his eyes. "Your father and his teammates were killed by Randall Edwards himself." I attempted to swallow the large lump in my throat before speaking. "Where is Edwards now?" Simpson looked up at me, his silence answering my question. He was still alive. The man that had killed my father was still roaming this earth, guilt free.
My fist clenched as I gritted my teeth. Simpson reached across the table and touched my shoulder, calming me slightly. "Why are you telling me all of this?" I asked. "None of it is going to help my father now." I glared at the ground. "Actually, it can." I looked up again at that. "What do you mean?" Simpson stood up. "You can continue your father's mission Elijah. You can take over and find Randall Edwards."
I looked up at him, my eyes wide. Now this guy was just crazy. I was just a kid! How was I supposed to become a member of the CIA! "Why me?" I asked finally, a million thoughts running through my mind. Simpson smiled. "Because your father's blood runs through your veins. If you're half the man he was, you can take Edwards down." I scoffed. "My father was killed. If I'm half the man he was, I'd die too." Simpson ignored my comment and turned his back to me. "Your father's partner's sons have already agreed to take on the mission. You will be put through a six month training procedure before going out to work on the mission, provided that you want to accept it." Simpson turned to me.
We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. I spoke quietly. "If I do accept…what happens to my family?" Simpson stepped towards me. "You're mother will take an eternal vow of silence on the matter. You will get to maintain contact with her, as your father did. But you must tell no one. If you chose to accept this mission, we will need to delete your name from the entire world's database." I shifted uneasily before fore forcing myself to look Simpson in the eyes. "So you're telling me that I'm being erased from the world? As if I never existed?" Simpson nodded. "If you chose to decline we can always-"
"No." I cut him off. I walked towards one of the walls to the right of me. I allowed my mind to wander back on my life. Back on every party I was never invited to, not that I wanted to come anyway. Every school club meeting I had never attended. Every dance I hadn't asked a girl to. Every day at school where people pretended I wasn't even a student. No one in my life would miss me.
"I'll do it." I said, my voice coming out confident and assure. I turned to see Simpson extending his hand.
I was good at pretending I didn't exist anyway.
I shook his hand.
I was put through six months of intense training before I was finally allowed to work in the field. It was there I met my two partners. Adam and Drew Torres.
Drew shook my hand with a strong grip while Adam stood behind him, waving slightly before going and shaking my hand as well.. "Good to finally meet you man." He said. smiled. I smirked back. "Feelings mutual." I said. "So, you're Omar's sons?" I asked. Drew nodded. "Yeah. We're the Torres boys." He said, elbowing Adam, who looked slightly…uncomfortable at his brother's statement.
Drew, Adam and I grew to be best friends throughout the time we worked together. We even hung out outside of work, considering the fact that we couldn't associate with anyone else. We trusted each other with secrets of all kinds. Drew told us about how he had a relationship with a girl two weeks into training, but it ended when he cheated on her. Adam revealed to me that he was a FTM transgender. Gradually, I told them secrets of my own as well. I even told them about-
My thoughts snapped back to the present when I felt Simpson grip my shoulder. My eyes snapped up to the door of the building.
He was walking out the door. Drew and Adam had his arms handcuffed together and at his sides. Then, he started walking towards us. Unbelievably powerful, incredibly dangerous, Randall Edwards, came towards us. Not too taller than Simpson, even in his defeat he kept a smug, sinister look on his face. He and Simpson looked like complete opposites. "Randall" Simpson said finally.
"Archie" Edwards replied, Simpson's first name sounding so out of place with Edwards's dead voice.
"I suppose a congratulations is in order." He said and smirked. It was cold and sinister, making me feel uneasy. Edwards held up his cuffed hand. "You finally managed to capture me." Simpson smiled. "I'm not taking the credit for this one Randall."
Did he mean?
Simpson put his hand on my back and pushed me forward.
Oh God no.
"Meet Goldsworthy, the leader of your capture mission. He and the two boys at your side are why you are standing before us right now." Edwards didn't appear interested in Adam or Drew however, only me. I looked into his cold eyes, attempting to appear strong.
Edwards smirked and looked up to the sky, as if in pretend thought. "Goldsworthy, eh? Haven't heard that name since…" his voice trailed off before locking his emotionless blue eyes with mine.
He remembers my father.
It took all of my self restraint to avoid punching his smug expression off his face.
With Edwards's statement however, I felt a surge of self assurance of my own and stared back at him with intensity.
I leaned forward to emphasize my point. "I will be remembered as a hero. The entire CIA will remember my name as the man who is the reason for your demise."
Suddenly, Edwards laughed, catching us all off guard. Drew looked confused, while Adam just looked uneasy.
"My dear boy." Edwards said, venom dripping from every word. "You may be the reason for my demise. But you are also the reason for my successor's rise to power."
And with that, Edwards allowed himself to be taken away to one of the CIA's company vehicles, all of us, even Simpson, staring wide eyed after him.
Adam spoke first. "What do you think he means by "my successor's rise to power"?
We all turned to Simpson, hoping he would provide some sort of answer. "I'm not sure." He said, his eyebrows falling into a slant. "But I have a feeling we're going to find out if we don't figure it out ourselves."
Drew's shoulders slumped at the thought of more work.
. . .
"Can't you work any faster Turner?" Simpson barked. Dave's eyes flashed crossly towards him and then back to his computer screen. "I'm working as fast as I possibly can. You've got the wrong guy for this. Wesley's better at hacking into emails."
Simpson stood up from his chair by the computer to pace. "Then get Wesley! We need to find any data and information pertaining to Edwards's apprentice."
"Successor." Drew corrected, but shrank back when Simpson glared at him.
"Got it!" Dave exclaimed, jumping in his seat. I leaned forward, my eyes scanning through Edward's latest emails. "What's the last one about?" Dave clicked on it.
"Its just a message to his wife." Simpson stopped pacing. "Edwards doesn't have a wife." Dave looked over his shoulder at him. "It recipient of the message is Helen Edwards." He stated matter-of-factly.
Simpson thought for a moment. "Helen Edwards is his ex-wife." He strode over to Dave's computer screen in a matter of seconds. "What does it say?" All of us read the email silently to ourselves.
To: Helen Edwards
From: Randall Edwards
Subject: Clare
Message: If I do not escape, send Clare to see me. There are matters we must discuss.
-Randall
The message was short, but it gave them a name and a lead. Simpson clapped Dave on the shoulder, obviously satisfied. Dave was surprised, but pleased nonetheless.
"Boys." Simpson turned to us. "I think its high time we pay a visit to the Edwards's ladies."
. . .
Ta-da! Hope you guys liked it. I'm planning on making this story about ten, fifteen chapters? I'll decide depending on the response I get.
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