Clicking the remote, Deputy Director Dot Pixis flipped to the first slide of his Monday morning debriefing slideshow. A picture of a C.I.A. run building appeared with its location along with a follow up picture of agents surrounding a computer terminal.
"Agents, this is one of our central intelligence storage facilities in Moscow, Russia. Two months ago it was broken into by unknown assailants. The computer terminal you see in the photograph was hacked and not by some rookie trying to hack into a bank to transfers funds into their account. This computer was hacked by a professional and I use the term lightly for I, at this moment, have no word good enough to describe this individual. No amateur could have even gotten to log in screen let alone actually gain entry." Flipping to the next slide, Pixis cleared his throat and continued.
"What you see here are the security readings from the computer and the rest of the building. At exactly 11:57 p.m. reports show of a window beam being broken in the Northwest side of the facility, however the alarm didn't go off until five minutes later. Whoever hacked the computer must have also caused the delay in the alarm system. Agents that security system is the greatest security system on the face of the earth only the creator himself could have gotten around it. I'm going to give the floor to Agent Zacharias so he can explain further, "Pixis said as he stepped off the podium. Agent Mike Zacharias, head of the Counterintelligence Center, thanked the Deputy Director and took his place at the podium.
"From what my team has deduced, this individual did not act alone. They're most likely a part of a larger group of similar people, probably masters of technology and intelligence gathering. This person knew exactly when the guards would be done with the sweep of the Northwest side and what terminal would hold the information they needed. They also knew what information they were looking for, where to find it, and how to transfer the files without leaving behind any type of flash drive signature on the hard drive. All in all, they broke it, hacked the computer, collected the information and got out in less than five minutes. Not even our best hacker, Agent William, could have gotten in and out that fast. From that, my team and I have agreed this person or group has come in contact with our inner workings and or somehow obtained highly classified information" A wave of murmuring and hushed whispers came from the crowd of agents. The entire room came down with a heavy tension, but this was nothing new. It's the C.I.A., America's first line of defense from not only itself but from foreign invaders, be that as it may, it still doesn't send a shiver down their backs knowing they aren't as invincible as they like to think. Quickly changing the gravity of the situation, Mike spoke up,
"Agent Braun and his team have been investigating the situation and have formed their report, for this was not an isolated incident."
Mike quickly stepped down and took his place next to his fellow agent, Nanaba who took hold of his hand and squeezed it trying to help him calm down. Mike was not a big fan of public speaking, nor was he a man of words. What was said about a minute ago was the most he's spoken in weeks, or at least to the other agents' knowledge. Nanaba however would know better than anyone how much Mike actually speaks. The two had been unintentionally "flirting" as the other agents put it, for awhile and neither of them ever officially asked the other out on a date. It was more a mutual agreement and so far it's been working. When Mike and Nanaba believe no one else is watching, they hold hands and Mike says apparently, either very funny or sexually suggestive things, into Nanaba's ear who then blushes and shakes her head as Mike wears that smirk on his face, all the while half the agency is secretly watching from the break room trying to wrap their heads around the idea of two of the most silent agents, even more quiet than Levi, were laughing and holding hands. Mike let out a deep breath and squeezed Nanaba's hand a little tighter and whispered a quiet thank you to her.
Reluctantly, meaning Hailey had to push him up the stairs; Reiner took his place at the podium. Taking her seat, Hailey winked at the brute, blowing him a kiss for luck, he tried not to blush and adjusted his tie wondering if the room had suddenly gotten hotter to anyone else.
"Last month, in Bonn, Germany, another one of our intelligence bases was hit," Reiner said as he clicked the remote causing the next slide to appear. "Entry was the same as well as the time of arrival and departure. As of now our Counterintelligence has determined the information taken from our Moscow base was a list of every C.I.A. intelligence base and recently from our Bonn base, records of our communications between our bases as well as the security rounds and basic level access codes. Said codes and security rounds have been changed but we aren't sure if this was what our thieves wanted. The whole situation is still fuzzy, but my team and I may have determined what base is going to be hit next and where we can counter them, maybe even catch them in the act and bust their asses." A snicker could be heard coming from Pixis, which shocked a few agents including Reiner who was a little embarrassed by his slip of the tongue. Coughing into his fist to cover up his embarrassment, Reiner handed the floor back over to Pixis and quickly took his seat. Hailey smiled at him and told him he did a good job, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek causing the bigger blonde to turn even redder. Bertholdt shifted in his seat and quietly told Reiner that he did great and Reiner replied with a grunted thanks.
Deputy Director once again stood at the podium and spoke,
"To wrap this little debriefing up, Director Zackly has approved my proposal of sending three of our best National Clandestine Service agents to Slikenborg, Denmark where Agent Braun's team believes the next base will be hit." Pixis clicked the last slide and the names and faces of the agents chosen appeared.
"Agents Levi Ackerman, Isabella Magnolia and Farlon Church, you have been selected for this mission. Please go see Mission Directors Rico Brzenka and Nile Dok when this is over. As for the rest of you, get your crap together and get ready for Inspector General Berwick, dismissed." And with that the agents cleared out of the debriefing room, some taking a detour to see Hanji.
Levi, Isabella and Farlon made their way to the Mission Directors' office. All three of them were a little nervous, even if they didn't want to admit it. This was a big deal and Deputy Director Pixis entrusted the future of America's safety in their hands, C.I.A. or not, that was a lot of pressure, but this is what they trained for. Isabella knocked on the office door and waited for one of the directors to call them in.
Rico was standing by her desk while Nile was typing away on his computer unaware of the agents' arrival.
"Good morning agents, I have your mission details right here." Rico passed them each a folder and readjusted her glasses. The three agents' eyebrows furrowed in confusion as they opened the folder and instead seeing the standard four or five papers, there was only a single sheet. Farlon spoke for them all when he asked,
"Excuse me, Mr. Brzenka, but why is there only one paper for this mission? We normally get at least four." Leaning back against her desk, Rico replied,
"The reason for that Agent Church, is because that's all the details I was given from Director Zackly. What you see on that page is the exact same content I received from his hands this morning. I believe he's taking extra precautions with this mission, should there be a rat amongst us they won't get very far."
"Yes but," Isabella quickly added, "won't we too be in the dark on this as well?" Rico shrugged.
"I don't know what to tell you, I'm sorry. Apparently this base is especially secretive, meaning now only seven people in this headquarters know of its existence, you, Levi, Farlon, me, Nile, Pixis and Zackly. This base isn't even on official record from what the Director told me, so I'm sure you'll find out why once you get there. Details are in there, what little there may be."
Rico circled around her desk and sat down in her chair and let out a sigh. The trio took that as their signal to leave and left the room. After hearing the door shut, Rico turned to Nile and asked in a sneering voice,
"So Nile, want to go to a karaoke bar?"
~: :~
Levi was unusually quiet as he walked with Isabella and Farlon. Sensing this, Isabella asked him,
"You had the dream again didn't you?" The question was more of a statement, but a question all the same to Levi. The agent continued walking, though he tensed for a second at the question, which Isabella quickly noticed.
"What does it matter?" Levi replied darkly. "I have it every other day, Isabella."
"Yes, but this has been going on for six months now, Levi. Don't you think that someone is trying to tell you something?"Isabella insisted that this was more serious than Levi was taking it, but nothing she said seemed to stick. Farlon joined in adding,
"Ya, Levi, maybe your mind is trying to tell you that you've been playing for the wrong team this whole time. No wonder you've never had a girlfriend." Before Farlon could add further to it, Levi slammed him against the wall, harder than he had intended or maybe not, he couldn't decide at the moment. The wall shook slightly and a few agents stopped what they were doing to turn their attention towards Levi. The smaller man said nothing, only stared up at Farlon with an intense gaze. Isabella stood by didn't say a word, waiting until Levi abruptly removed he arm from across Farlon's chest. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed once. Levi jerked away from her touch and started walking away from his friends and down the hall leading to the science department.
~: :~
Levi entered Hanji's laboratory and navigated the zoo that was Hanji Zoe's workshop. Ducking to avoid experiments hanging from the ceiling, Lord only knows how she got them up there, and narrowly missing her underlings as they ran past him carrying beakers and Petri dishes filled with what could only be classified as the creature from the Black Lagoon. Levi heard Hanji's over ecstatic shouting a little further down and made his way there.
"Ah ha! It worked! My experiment worked!" Hanji cheered as she jumped in place.
"Oi, Shitty Glasses!" Levi called out as he approached her. "What in God's name are you screaming about this time?" Hanji turned around and grabbed Levi's hand, leading him to her experiment.
"Here, Levi look! Look at my baby!" Levi rolled his eyes, she says that about all her experiments. Looking down at the lab station table, he was met with a half eaten skeleton of what appears to be a very large sewer rat. Thousands of beetles were swarming its carcass, picking every last piece of meat clean off the bones. Looking back up at Hanji with a look of complete indifference, Levi questioned her why this was so special.
"Oh Levi," she whined, "can you not see the beauty I've created?"
"All I see is a half eaten rat."
"Would you believe me if I told you I put both the rat and beetles in at the same time not twenty minutes ago?" Levi shot a look of disbelief at Hanji.
"Impossible. It takes those flesh eating beetles at least a day to pick a skeleton clean there's no way they've eaten this rat so quickly." Hanji smiled ominously and giggled at the smaller man. There were very few people who freaked Levi out and Hanji Zoe was at the top of that list, God love her.
"I'm guessing your experiment was figuring out a way to stir them into a feeding frenzy quicker?"
"Precisely, I messed around with their hormonal responses to hunger and fresh meat until I figured out the right combination!" Hanji swooned as she clapped her hands together. "And it was actually my assistant that discovered the right combination." Levi raised his eyebrow in confusion.
"You don't have an assistant, Hanji, just your little minions." Shaking her head 'no', Hanji pointed to her left as a man who had no business in the science department came running towards her. He was roughly her height, short sandy brown hair with blue colored eyes and a look of permanent amazement on his face. In his hand he held two cups of coffee and Levi had a bed feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"H-Han…Hanji," the man gasped out, breath escaping him. "I-I got you your co-coffee." Smiling she took the cup from his shaking hand.
"Thank you, Ryan. Oh, Ryan, this is my friend, Agent Levi." Ryan extended his hand to shake his hand, but missed entirely and ended up spilling his cup of coffee all over Levi's suit jacket. Like lightning, Levi jumped back and tried very hard not to punch this man he'd only been acquainted with for less than a minute.
"Oh shit, Levi, I'm so sorry," Ryan quickly apologized as he grabbed the roll of paper towels from Hanji's lab table.
"It's fine, Ryan, really," Levi replied, trying to sound understanding and not pissed off anymore than he already was. Hanji merely giggled and patted Ryan on the back. After the two men tried their best at removing as much coffee as they could from Levi's jacket, Ryan once again said he was sorry. Levi told him it was fine while "lightly" punching him on the shoulder sending the man back an inch or so. Ryan swiftly left Hanji and Levi and the Raven turned his head toward the Chief Scientist.
"Where the hell did you find that guy?" Levi asked bitterly.
"He actually works in the Development and Engineering department. I was borrowing some of his equipment for an experiment and he just started asking me if he needed help on my experiments, since someone won't help me anymore," Hanji pouted.
"Hanji, the last time I helped you I was throwing up green blood for two days. Green blood, Hanji! I'm just glad you got some other sap to help you, since it's obvious he's got a crush on you."
"What?" the scientist replied in disbelief. "Ryan doesn't have a crush on me." It was obvious the engineer had a hard on for her, but Hanji being Hanji wouldn't get the hint even if he wrote it on a sign and put it up every where in her lab.
"Whatever, shitty glasses, I've got a mission I have to get ready for and I've got to get my spare jacket from my locker." Levi said goodbye and headed for the door, but before he left he asked the scientist,
"Hey, Hanji, you sure you weren't a mad scientist in a past life?" Hanji smiled lightly, her eyes softening.
"I have a feeling I was, Levi…"