Part one of Poison. This is the fourth in my Safehouse arc (sorry for the shortness in advance!) and I hope you enjoy…because I am running from the reviewers commanding me to update Those Who Wander. Run away! (And R&R) ~ SamayouTamashi
Somewhere in the south of France, a small café sat along a boring stretch of road. It wasn't visited much anymore, but it had been building up a small reputation for itself for that very reason.
It was for that same reason, in fact, that a blond teenager had gotten out of his taxi to sit in a small booth an hour ago.
Alex nervously tapped his foot against the tiled floor, watching all the doors from his vantage point in the café's corner booth. In front of him was a cup of once-steaming tea. It hadn't been touched since the tiny blond waitress set it in front of him. Ripples flickered through the deep reddish-brown liquid as he sent pulses through the table with his incessant tapping.
The small silver bell hung above the café main door made a tinny clatter as Ben stepped into the small coffee shop. He spoke briefly to the waitress, who pointed back at Alex. He thanked her politely before going to his partner's table. Raising an eyebrow as he quickly noted the way he was fiddling with his watch, the thin white tablecloth and the longest strands of his hair, as well as the rapid tapping, Ben asked, "What has you so tense?"
"SCORPIA." The unusually nervous behavior was replaced by a two-part mix of surety and confusion*. "It would appear that since the recent death of Zeljan Kurst by his sudden collapse of seizures and strangely natural death, the remaining board has been making some major changes in their work."
"Such as?"
"Such as bowing down to a nameless competitor, who is by far second to them in both experience and value."
Ben leaned forward on his elbows, messing with a plastic straw lying by his elbow. "Why would they do that? They would never sink so low as to merge with a rival, even if their very lives were on the line. Their pride conquers everything they do, even going beyond logic at times."
"And that is what has me worried, Ben. This rival might not have the skill and superior firepower that SCORPIA does, but what they do have is three times the money SCORPIA had in their golden days based on the peeks into the few accounts I could access connected to them."
As the waitress came past, she carried a tray with two steaming cups of tea. "On the house, gentlemen. The ladies couldn't bear those sad faces of yours and paid for this themselves." She took Alex's now-cold cup away while Ben murmured a "thanks" in her direction. It was going to take more than tea to fix this up, however.
Alex sipped at his warm tea, running a hand through his hair. "I have no…well, few links inside this second-rate rival of theirs and so little information with no names whatsoever. I've had months to build up a network within SCORPIA, but this new company? Not even a week."
"I take it there's some kind of work in this for me?"
A nod. "If my sources are correct, then they'll need at least five new chemical engineers for some new project. I'll get "résumés" leaked on to the Internet and start making a new identity from scratch with help from Blunt. Yours wasn't so hard. By next Wednesday, I can get you on their radar, maybe even with a signed job agreement. Lucas and Mira are coming as well. They volunteered, saying that their covers from Nigeria were never broken and are nearly identical to what this rival company is looking for." He drained the last of his tea and set it lightly on the table in front of him, rubbing the edges of the ceramic cup with a single finger.
"I'll need to have some study time, then. Engineering in general practice is an easy cover as long as you have math up to Calculus and basic physics under your belt. Specialties aren't so easy, because the questions are always so damned picky." Ben didn't normally drink tea, but it smelled nice. "Is the tea good?"
"Little bitter, but yeah."
The spy took a small sip just as a flash of panic crossed his partner's face. "What?"
Alex stepped out of the booth, not answering the question, to peek back at the waitress who'd served the tea to them. "She's SCORPIA," he said calmly with his hand slowly trailing to the Sig holstered by his waist, "yet she hasn't pulled out a gun. So what's the…?" he trailed off, remembering the tea cups on the table. "Merde. Don't drink any more tea and call up MI6. I don't know what she put in our drin-" Ben stood quickly as his partner collapsed to the floor, shaking uncontrollably and breathing labored. He pulled his gun out, only to find that the smirking waitress was gone.
The spy knelt down by Alex to press a hand against his throat to measure the pulse. "Way too fast," he muttered, whipping out his phone, he dialed in a direct link to Blunt's office. He could distinctly feel his own heart racing and a fever setting in as the poison began to work its way through his system as well. "I need help now!"
A/N: I have no idea where this is going, but I believe it will be another 3-part story. This one might be four parts with the ṻber-short prologue though… Sorry about that.
* Stir carefully, shake hard and enjoy the energy burst. Watch for some common side effects: nervous twitching, insomnia, depression, tendencies towards violence, and unbacked suspicion towards just about everyone, are among the most common. Be careful around weapons, for the sake of those around you.
