Note: Spy!AU
The room was completely dark sans the single light that was shining on Marlene. From the sounds of water dripping and a low rumble in the distance, Marlene would have guessed that she was in a warehouse. Unfortunately, she couldn't accurately deduce her whereabouts because she was bound by her wrists to the chair she was sitting in—which was uncomfortable in a cinnamon sequined dress and heels.
"Well, well, well," drawled a raspy male voice that sounded like rubbing sandpaper. "Svetlana Ivanov. A pleasure it is to meet in person. Took a bit of persuasion to get slash obtain your name from the bank teller, but I got it."
Marlene's face remained passive as a large, rough hand reached out to her through the shadows. It gripped her chin, forcing her to look upwards.
"Now, why don't you tell me who you're working for," he said, releasing her chin.
Marlene couldn't see him, but she knew that he was walking around her by the heavy steps. She mentally rolled her eyes. She hadn't heard them beforehand, so he had to be dramatizing his steps. Honestly, men and their egos were mentally exhausting.
She took a deep breath, straightening the upper half of her body that she could move. "Mr. Dolohov," Marlene said in a fluent Russian accent, her eyes fluttering in an innocent manner. "I can assure you that I don't work for anyone nor do I know what you're accusing me of."
The steps stopped, and the hand grabbed her throat, brushing against her jet-black curls. Her facial expression mocked one of fear, but on the inside, Marlene couldn't wait to knee this man in the groin.
"I know it was you that went into the bank the same day that my accounts were depleted," Dolohov snapped. "You were the only one on the damn footage."
'Talk about subtly,' Marlene thought. The things she did for her boss.
"I know nothing Mr. Dolohov," she said, a pleading look in her eye as he squeezed harder. "Have mercy." 'I beg of you' was going to be part of that statement, but there was no chance in hell she was going to say that, undercover or not.
"You get no mercy. You're going to pay for screwing with my finances, bitch," he said with a growl.
Marlene heard fingers snapping and guns being cocked. She closed her eyes, knowing that it would look like she was giving in or crying.
"Don't look so morose, darling. This will be over in a second," he said.
In reality, Marlene had been counting down.
An explosion sounded in the distance, and for the first time, Marlene could see beyond the spotlight on her. Immediately, Marlene brought her leg up to kick the first shadow she could. She swung the chair on her back, effectively breaking the chair. Her hands were still bound, but that didn't stop her from running towards the men she could see and fighting them off.
She recognized the dark clothed men in the distance wrangling the rest of the men that were hiding in the warehouse. Their movements were fluid and effective, much to Marlene's relief.
Marlene caught the sound of a man spouting curses followed by a lock clicking; then the man was silent. She turned around, seeing an agent next to a man whose wrists were cuffed in the front; a collared device was placed around his neck.
She always wondered how well the Silencio Collar would work; the Weasley twins knew how to tinker technology well. Walking forward to see the device's work up close, Marlene recognized the hand that was clawing at the metal collar fastened around his neck; it had been wrapped around her neck.
She opened her mouth to say something, but the agent beat her to it. "The only thing keeping you alive is the fact that it's an order," the agent hissed next to Dolohov. Dolohov gave the guy a glare, trying to remove the collar that was keeping him from speaking.
"Hissing now, James? You're becoming quite the convincing snake," Marlene drawled as she walked towards them casually, pulling at the dark roots on her head. It slowly peeled away to reveal that it was a wig all along. She tossed it on Dolohov's face.
James scoffed. "In your dreams. The wanker had it coming for putting his hands on you. Only I get to do that."
An eye roll and hint of a smile graced Marlene's face before she looked down at Dolohov. "The order didn't specify how hurt you had to be," she said, kicking him right where it hurt.
Dolohov's muffled whimper was heard before he fell to his side with his eyes squeezed shut.
Marlene ran a hand through her blonde hair, staring at the man in front of her. "For a second there, I thought I was forgotten."
"Never left your side," James replied, tapping his ear to indicate he was listening in with a communicator. "I could hear and see everything. Nice work as Svetlana. Couldn't have done it better myself."
"You're right. You couldn't have." Marlene smirked. "However, I'll say that the alterations to the bank footage was brilliant. We wouldn't have gotten close without it."
James wrapped an arm around Marlene's shoulder as some of the other agents along with them took Dolohov away. "Next time we go with your plan," James said, "I want to be closer than through comms. If he'd touched one hair on your head…"
"We're agents for a reason, James. And it technically wasn't my hair anyway."
"I don't bloody care, Marly."
"You shouldn't have taken the job then."
"And miss out on how delectable you look in a bodysuit?"
Marlene slapped his arm. "We better head back to the base while they gather the rest of Dolohov's connections from his bank statements."
James nodded, walking alongside Marlene with his arm still slung around her shoulder. "You know… one night when we're not on the call, I would love to see you perform that innocent act with me."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Just because I know my aliases well doesn't mean you can pick off them like some form of roleplay."
"Is that an offer?"
Marlene smacked James' arm again. "Say something crude again, and I'll take your gun and shoot your shin."
James put a hand on his chest. "You wound me."
She snorted, forcing down the smile that was attempting to show. "Can we leave Sochi, please? You're not the one that has to change outfits again so we can get the rest of these marks."
"We'll be out of here at the drop of a hat."
"No one says that anymore."
When Marlene, James, and the other agents arrived back to Phoenix Headquarters, Marlene was given the rest of the targets needing to be apprehended while James received the equipment plus more tactical bombs to make the catches happen quickly.
She and her partner were ready to take on each and every name on this list; Marlene only hoped that she wouldn't have to wear sequins anymore. The material had started to make the poor woman itch.
A/N: Written for HSWW (Challenges and Assignment) and QLFC
(QLFC) Team: Wigtown Wanderers; Position: Chaser 1; Prompt: Chimaera: Write about someone who is two-faced or behaves differently around different people; Additional Prompts; (word) morose, (sound) explosion, (phrase) drop of a hat
(HSWW) Assignment #8 Transfiguration: write about someone hiding their identity behind a mask or costume (wigs/disguises count :P)
Word Count: 1,194