When Tom, Dan and Aneisha were called down to base in the middle of their English lesson, the team were not surprised. Rumours about a major operation had been going around MI9 for the last few weeks, and Frank had been hinting subtly (not subtly at all) that the M. team were going to be major players in whatever was about to go down.
In the lift, the team shared excited looks and they shot downwards, each wondering what their new mission was going to be. The set up they found in their base, however, was not what they had been expecting.
Frank stood by the computer bank, in the same position he could usually be found when the team descend the lift, but it was the newly installed cell that sparked the group's attention. Inside the cell sat a girl, around the same age as the spies themselves. Her choppy blonde hair lay in a low bun and her slight features would probably have been attractive if it wasn't for the dirt and discomfort that covered her face as she gazed out at the teenagers in front of her.
Sharing confused looks, the group walked towards Frank. It was Dan that asked the question first "Frank… who's that?" he said, motioning to the girl that was in the cage.
"That team, is your mission for the foreseeable future. You're in the presence of Ava, the daughter of the Grand Master" Frank replied.
Simultaneously, Tom, Dan and Aneisha turned back to the girl in the cell, doing a double take. In return, she gave them a hard stare.
"The Grand Master has a daughter?" asked Aneisha, not taking her eyes off the girl as she spoke "How does MI9 have her? And why's she here?" she continued, gasping for breath between her questions.
"He does indeed. Eight years ago MI9 captured her during a raid on what turned out to be a SKUL training facility and for the last 9 years, she has remained in MI9 custody; well until now at least." Frank replied. Met with confused looks from his team, he continued.
"You might have heard about the kidnapping of Delitia Bryce, the wife of the prime minister, and the countries leading expert on terrorism. Earlier this week, SKUL released a ransom note asking for one thing in exchange for Delitia" he said
"The release of Ava?" asked Tom, eyeing the girl in front of him cautiously.
"Exactly. And for once, MI9 have decided to do as SKUL ask. So Ava is being situated here before the drop later this week in order to ensure her safety, and prepare her for her… new life." Frank finished.
Slowly Dan approached the cell, his face stony "Can we trust her though? Isn't it a bit dangerous to show her our faces when she's just going to give all her information to SKUL" he said.
Frank opened his mouth to speak, but a voice from the cell rang out first "I am here you know" Ava said, her voice accusing. "You might not want to say things like that, it could put ideas into my head".
Dan looked dumbfounded, whereas Tom laughed from his place further away from the cell. Aneisha gave him a dirty look, prompting him to stop his laughter.
Walking over, Frank took over. "Ava, that is quite enough of that. Our inmate here is quite a conversationalist, however, there is no need to worry, her ride here was blind, so she has no idea of our current location and no specific details about any of you will be given out, apart from first names." Frank finished.
"Yeah, it was a bloody awful car ride as well, you get really car sick when you can't look out of the windows" Ava replied, visibly paling at the memory from her place on the floor of the cell.
Rolling his eyes, Frank began speaking again, this time addressing Ava "Yes, well, keeping an eye on you this week you will have Dan, Aneisha and Tom" he said, motioning to each as he mentioned them. "Be nice. They're not used to you like your old guards were, they might not have quite as much patience".
"Team, your mission is simple." Frank said, turning away from the cell "Make sure Ava doesn't leave, make sure nobody breaks in and try not to go insane with her neverending chatter. At least one of you needs to be here at all times, but I'll be taking shifts too, don't worry." Frank said, eyeing each of his team.
This was going to be a long week.
The main side effect of being a technical agent rather than a field agent was that Tom had to spend significantly more time in HQ than his teammates. So, while Dan and Aneisha were out on dangerous raids and missions, Tom had the joy of keeping an eye on Ava.
He didn't mind. Not that he would admit it to anyone, but he actually rather enjoyed her comments, especially when they were directed at Dan. However, he did find that when they were forced to spend hours alone in the base, things did begin to get rather boring which had led to the pair getting to know each other. They had a weird dynamic, but what Frank and the others didn't know couldn't hurt them.
Dan and Aneisha were out on a mission with Frank at MI9 HQ, which meant Tom was left to hold down the base until they got back at the end of the day. Without much to do, Tom took the opportunity to scroll through the MI9 database, researching the girl that sat lockup nearby.
He'd tried typing in "Ava" into three different secure networks, all of which yielded nothing. Leading back in his chair, Tom turned towards the cell across the room "Ava, what's your last name? You don't come up on any of these MI9 files" he called.
"Last name?" replied Ava, her voice full of confusion.
Tom sighed, getting up from his seat in front of the computers, and moving to lean against the wall next to the cell "Yeah, you know, a person's second name - surname." He was met with yet another blank look. "Like Stephen Hawking, or-or I don't know Taylor Swift?" he tried again.
"Do you have one?" Ava asked him.
"Yeah" Tom replied "Of course I do, everyone does, I'm just not allowed to tell you. You usually get in from one of your parents".
Ava slumped back onto the floor of the cell "Well, that explains why I don't have one then. I don't have a mother, and as far as I know, my father's name really is 'Grand Master'" she said smiling mournfully.
Tom laughed, biting back his reply "No, this is great! Having one name is iconic - you're basically Madonna, or Cher or something" he said reaching into his limited knowledge of popular culture.
From her place in the cell, Ava did not seem reassured by this new information "I've got no idea who any of those people are." she said, "It's not like they let me have much to do with the outside world when I was in MI9 jail".
Tom creased his forehead "They didn't actually keep you in a jail, did they? You were just a kid when you first got brought in, how old were you? Eight?" he said.
"Nine. Well, I suppose it wasn't an actual jail, though it did feel like that for a while when I first got there." Ava replied, her eyes glazing over at the memory "Actually, I really liked it there. It was much better than at SKUL" she continued.
"It was?" asked Tom, hiding his shock the best he could.
"Oh yeah! At SKUL they made us fight all day and train to be evil or whatever. Everyone was so cruel and harsh, then, when I came to MI9 they actually taught me things. I still remember the look on the guard's face when they realised that I couldn't read" she said, smiling fondly at the memory.
"Wow, really?" Tom laughed in reply, eyes going wide.
"Yeah, they gave me a book and I had no idea what to do with it, I'd never even seen one at SKUL. If I could, I would go back to that safehouse, jail, whatever you want to call it, right now." Ava said.
Uncomfortably, Tom shifted his weight from where he stood against the wall "If you like it at MI9 so much, why are you going back to SKUL?" he asked.
Ava swallowed harshly, clipping her words; "I don't want to. I didn't get the choice. One minute I was happy in my safehouse room with all the books that the caregivers could give me and now I'm here, sleeping on a cold floor with nothing to do all day but talk to you." she said, a hint of malice in her voice.
Tom ignored the insult. "And I'm sure you've been loving every moment of it, right?" he said, putting on his most charming grin.
Ava rolled her eyes with as much drama as she could muster "Well… I suppose that there are worse people that I could have to deal with. Maybe." she said, although her smile gave away the facade.
Tom noted that she was very pretty when she smiled.
"But anyway," Ava continued "We got off topic, I'm more concerned about these last names, and how to get one," she said, finding her lost enthusiasm.
Tom folded his arms across his chest "Well you can have whatever last name you like really, you just tell the government and it's done." he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Ava sighed "But how do you choose? I don't get one from my parents, but I don't want it to be rubbish." she said, pouting like a child.
"Well," Tom spoke "when people get married, the girl usually takes the boys last name - if they want to - so maybe you'd be able to do that, though it's really up-" Tom said, but was cut off by the sound of the lift moving down from above.
"I've got to go," he said, before pushing off the wall and rushing away from the cell to sit back down at his computer station, tapping away at the keys as if he'd never moved.
Moments later the doors opened to reveal Aneisha, Dan and Frank, talking merrily among themselves. "Good mission?" asked Tom without turning away from his computer screen.
Aneisha smiled, white teeth showing "Yeah it was! We busted the bad guys and we're all good to go for the swap between Ava and Delitia next week."
Across the room, a voice could be heard from Ava's cell "Really? You're making me stay here another week? I'm going to freeze to death or die of boredom. Is that really what you want?" she said, addressing nobody in particular.
To everyone's surprise, it was Tom that spoke next "You know, it really wouldn't hurt to get her some books and a blanket".
Tom didn't miss the look of gratitude that Ava shot him from across the room.
A.N.
I'm an 18-year-old, but to cope with exam stress, I rewatched most of all the seasons of M. and this is what I produced. It just seems too unfair that Tom never got a proper love-interest you know? Also, Zoe's not included because I found her kind of boring (sorry to Zoe lovers) and it's not like Dan's ego needs anymore boosting anyway, he needs some alone time.
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