"Nice to meet you Erik. I'm sparring tomorrow in preparation for the op. You're free to join if you want."
Maverick nodded. "Maybe I will." He said.
He watched Mira turn around and enter her room, shriek then leave the room, her cheeks red. A few seconds later, a blonde woman exited the room, trying her best not to make eye contact with anyone as she walked to the west wing of the dorms. Mira went in the room again, scolding someone inside after she closed the door.
Maverick chuckled. She sounds like his mom whenever he did something wrong. He walked back to his room and entered where a woman was reading a book on her bed. She closed it when she saw him enter.
"Did you talk to her?" she asked.
Maverick nodded. "Yes Taina, I did."
"And what did she say?"
Maverick took his shoes off and sat on his bed. "She said she wanted to start over." He said "In fact, she even invited me to spar with her tomorrow."
"I told you, just talk to her. Unless you really pissed her off, Elena usually gets over anything after a day or so."
"Or she's just looking for a way to beat my ass into the ground without breaking any rules. She can't do that can she?"
Caveira chuckled. "She can do anything she wants. Ever since Maxim cut Lera's face open and she broke his ribs, everyone just agreed that whatever happens in sparring stays in sparring."
"So I'm screwed."
"Not really." Caveira said "Maybe she's just trying to scare you. I mean, that's what I would do if I wanted to scare Timur."
"What is your deal with him anyway? You clearly like him and yet you're scaring him so much that he barely interacts with you anymore."
Caveira shrugged. "I'm testing him first. If he manages to survive all that, he's definitely a keeper. So for now, I'm scaring him."
"Well no offense Taina, but you're not scaring anyone with that pink Hello Kitty shirt." Maverick said "Who knew the dark and scary Caveira was actually just a big softie."
"You won't be thinking that whem you're holding your guts in your hands after I've sliced your stomach open."
"Sure you will."
"Don't test me Erik." Caveira jokingly threatened "I may be secretely girly but I can still kill you in more ways than you can count."
"Whatever." Maverick said, switching the lights off "Goodnight."
Caveira grunted a response as she rolled over to sleep. Maverick did the same and after a few seconds, he was taken to the land of the unconcious.
…
Maverick sat up groggily, slamming his hand on his desk a few times before finally finding the snooze button on his alarm.
"You have to learn to wake up earlier than that Erik."
Caveira sat cross-legged on her bed as she watched him get up. "Don't you have anything better to do?" Maverick asked.
Caveira shook her head. "Not really. I don't have any operations on my schedule at the moment. Timur's still asleep, and scaring everyone else got boring."
"You can always come out to everyone as the pink-wearing, teddy bear hugging softie you really are."
Caveira scoffed. "Oh please, I'd sleep with you before I'd do that."
"You hurt me Taina."
Caveira shrugged as she put on the black everything she always wears whenever she's around anyone that she's not close with. Or Erik, since she had no choice but to tell him when Six assigned him as her roommate.
They left the room together, walking to the mess hall for breakfast. After getting the slob that passes for food in Rainbow, they sat down with Buck, who immediately commented about Caveira.
"So, which Taina am I looking at right now?" he asked.
"The Taina that will kill you if you ever mention the other Taina again."
Buck chuckled. "Oh, that Taina." He said "Ok then. Tell me, if you ever make a move on Glazkov, will you show him who you really are?"
Caveira calmly took a bite of her food before looking back at Buck. "You may think its funny now Cote, but remember, being my friend will only make it hurt more when I finally do kill you."
Buck shrugged at her before turning to Maverick. "So, what happened between you and Alvarez?" he asked "She still mad at you?"
"Is your life so boring that you meddle with te life of others?"
"Yes." Buck said flatly "Spill it."
"He apologized to her." Caveira answered for him "She invited him to spar with her, said shhe wanted to start over."
"Or she just wants to beat him to the ground without going against any of the rules."
Maverick looked at Caveira, who just rolled her eyes at him. After finishing his breakfast, Maverick checked his watch. Mira should probably be awake by now, she was in the workshop way earlier than this yesterday, after all. He got up and told the others he was off to the gym.
He heard someone grunting while they hit a punching bag as he neared the gym. Expecting to see Mira, he entered only to see that it wasn't her in there. Instead, a redhead was wrapping bandages around her fists as she prepared to start punching again. She saw him enter and she waved at him.
"Hey, you're new here right?" she asked.
Maverick nodded, offering her his hand. "Erik Thorn."
"Eliza Cohen." She said, shaking his hand "The punching back is getting boring, you mind helping me out?" Ash pointed to one of the padded sparing gloves.
Maverick shrugged, walked over to them and put them on. He clapped his hands together before turnin to Ash. "You ready?" he asked.
Ash nodded and began to hit them, Maverick pushing back at her fists each time she did. Everytime it felt repetitive, he threw her a curveball to keep her on her toes. After a while, Ash stopped, resting her hands on her legs as she panted.
"How are you so good at that?"
"It was how I trained back while I was locked away." Maverick said.
"Really? Then why still train now?"
"A little refresher can't hurt. Besides, I'm waiting for someone, we're supposed to be training for an op but she's not here yet."
Ash asked who that person was but before Maverick could answer, he saw Ash scowl as her expression turned sour. Maverick turned around to see what Ash was looking at and saw Mira enter the gym, followed by Rook.
"Look he decided to get out of bed this morning." Ash snarled "What are you doing here Alvarez?"
"You don't own the gym Cohen. I have as much right to be here as you do." Mira said "Come on Erik. Six said she'll give us more information about the operation."
Maverick was surprised by Ash's sudden hostility when Mira arrived. "I thought we were sparring."
"You should get used to that Thorn. That bitch never keeps her word." Ash said.
Mira walked up to Ash, dropping her bag as she pushed Maverick aside. "What is your problem Cohen?"
"You know exactly what my problem with you is Alvarez. Don't pretend. It didn't work then, and it won't work now."
"What's happening?" Maverick whispered to Rook.
"The two of them went on an operation once, they've been down each other's throat ever since they got back. Elena never told anyone what happened on that op, but it was definitely something bad if they're still pissed about it after all these years."
Maverick looked back at the two, who were still yelling at each other.
"I don't need this!" Mira yelled "Come on Erik, let's go."
Ash pushed Mira from behind. "That's right run. Run back to the sad collection of vibrators and dildos you call your sex life."
Mira turned around and struck Ash in the face so fast, Maverick barely had time to register what happened. Ash stumbled backwards, clutching her bleeding nose. She spat some blood out and cocked her fist back when Rook jumped in the middle of them.
"That's enough!" he yelled "Find a way to work whatever the fuck it is between you two out because this isn't helping."
Ash glared daggers at Mira but decided not to escalate things further. She picked her stuff up and walked out the gym, hitting Mira with her shoulder when she did. No one said anything as they watched her leave. Mira picked her bag up and walked out as well. Stopping by the door, she called for Maverick over her shoulder.
"I'm waiting Erik."
"I'd listen to her if I were you." Rook said, taking a rag so he can clean up the blood Ash spat, removing any evidence to the exchange that happened between her and Mira.
Maverick followed Mira out the hallway, grabbing her shoulder when he caught up. "What was that?" he asked.
"What happens in sparring stays in sparring Erik."
"The wasn't sparring Elena, you just straight up decked her now tell me what that was all about."
Mira stopped walking, making Maverick stop as well. "Look, I just met you so I'm sorry if I'm not yet comfortable telling you something I haven't even told my best friend yet. Now come on, for the last time, Six is waiting for us."
Maverick sighed and followed her to Six's office. She knocked and poked her head in before opening the door all the way when Six told her to come in. Maverick followed and sat next to her, waiting for Six to finish typing whatever she was typingg on her computer. She shut the screen and pulled a folder from her desk. She dropped it in front of them.
"What took you two so long?"
"Erik wouldn't get out of bed." Mira said.
Six turned to Maverick. "Is that true."
Maverick glanced and Mira who glared at him, daring him to tell Six what happened between her and Ash. "Yes." He finally said "I went to bed late last night."
Six stared at him. He could tell she was judging him. "This better be the last time that happens. When I tell you to wake up, you wake up. Understand?"
Maverick silently nodded. Six turned back to thhe folder on her desk and began to explain their operation.
"A few weeks ago, someone managed to hack into the pentagon. The Department of Defense managed to shut them out before any intelligence was lost but the fact that someone was able to break through their firewalls, even for just a second got them worried. They called for us personally because they wanted this discreet. They don't have much on the hacker but they do know that she was former G.E.O. That's what you're for Alvarez."
"Wait, I'm going on this op just because the person we're hunting used to be in the same CTU?" Mira asked "Take Ryad, he was G.E.O too."
"He's still in the medbay, recovering from the last time you told me to take him instead of you."
Mira scrunched up her face, trying to remember what happened to Jackal. "Oh yeah."
"Its just a simple extraction Alvarez." Six said "We already know where she is, just go there, get her and bring her to the police escort waiting for you. We have to get our hands on her before the white masks do. Who knows what they'll be able to do if they have someone like her on their side."
The two of them nodded and after a few more details, Six told them to leave her office and do whatever they need to get ready for their flight, which was a few hours from now. Once they were outside her door, Mira took off without a single word to Maverick, going to god knows where. Maverick rolled his eyes and walked to his room to grab what he needed for a quick shower before they had to leave.
Maverick rounded the corner, nearly bumping into to Caveira, who was pushed up against the wall by Glaz, both of them making out so hard it looked like they were trying to suck each other's faces off through their mouths.
Maverick's dumb grin reached his ears. "So you finally went for it, huh?"
If Glaz hadn't pulled away, Caveira would have just ignored him, too occupied with Glaz's mouth to bother answering Maverick. She turned to him, cheeks flushed and pupils dilated. "Not a word Erik."
"You know there are cameras everywhere right? You couldn't have waited until you were inside the room?"
"If anyone saw us and even remotely knew me, they'd know to keep their mouth shut." Caveira said before turning to Glaz "Timur this is Erik, Erik this is-"
"I know who you are." Maverick said, shaking Glaz's hand "Taina's told me a lot about you."
Glaz looked at Caveira. "Has she?"
"If that surprises you, wait until you see her room."
From the corner of his eye, Maverick could see Caveira flip him off. He chuckled and went to unlock the door to their room when Caveira ran to his side, her voice low so Glaz couldn't hear. "You're not staying are you? I'm trying to get laid here."
Maverick shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm just getting a few things. I'll leave you two be." He said before entering the room. After grabbing his backpack and filling it with a few day's worth of clothes, he opened the drawer on his nightstand. Inside was a ring placed on top of a picture of a woman.
"Keep me safe Maria." He whispered before putting the ring on.
He left the room, seeing Caveira and Glaz continue tongue wrestling. He tapped Caveira on the shoulder before offering her the keys to the room. "All yours." He said "There's some condoms in my nightstand."
"Oh don't worry, we won't be needing them." Caveira's mischievous smile only made Maverick want to leave sooner. Caveira dragged Glaz in the room and locked the door behind them.
After a quick shower, Maverick went to the workshop where he saw Mira working on her black mirrors. They exchanged a quick greeting and talked about the operation a bit before they turned to working on their own projects in silence. Maverick saw the wall he ruined tossed to the side and he wanted to apologize but Mira beat him to it.
"Thank you for what you said to Six."
"What do you mean?"
"For lying." Mira said "I threw you under the bus and you went with it. Thank you."
"Hey, what happens in sparring, stays in sparring, remember?"
Mira gave him a smile. "I don't know what came over me when I hit Cohen."
"I'm sorry for asking what was between you two. It was a personal question."
Mira was silent for a bit. "I was wrong about you Erik. You're a good person."
Maverick smiled. "You too."
…
"We're almost there. Get ready." Jager yelled from the cockpit.
Mira and Maverick both yelled a response and got their gear together. The plane touched down and they exited, greeted by two FBI agents. After a quick thank you to Jager, he took off and Mira and Maverick followed the agents to their car. When they drove out of the airport, one of the agents started talking again.
"Miss Alvarez, Mister Thorn, I'm Agent Clarke and this is Agent Ramirez." He said "We really appreciate you being here."
"Thank you for having us." Maverick said "What do we have on the hacker?"
Beside Clarke, his colleague was flipping through her phone. When she found what she was looking for, she showed it to them. It was a picture of a hooded figure leaving what seems like an abandoned warehouse.
"We managed to trace the hacker's IP address here." Ramirez said.
"Something's not right here." Mira said "If she really is a good hacker, she wouldn't leave something like that behind."
"We know." Clarke said "This is our only lead on her. Shady or not, we have to go for it. We'll take you to the hotel room reserved for you. Be up at seven hundred hours tomorrow, we'll pick you up."
…
Maverick answered the knock on the door of their hotel room and waiting for him on the other side was Ramirez, having switched from her standard FBI suit to tactical gear.
"Ready?" she asked.
Maverick called for Mira and the three of them walked down to the lobby where Clarke was waiting for them in the car. They drove to the warehouse where several other FBI agents were on standby. Clarke pulled up next to one of them and asked him what was going on.
"We've established a perimeter around the area. If anyone comes out we'll catch them, but there hasn't been any movement yet." The agent responded.
"Are you sure we have the right place?" Mira asked.
Ramirez checked her phone. "The ping hasn't moved yet. If she's not here, her tech is, which can still be useful to us."
"Ok then. Let's move."
The four of them, as well as a few FBI agents walked up to the entrance and stood on either side of the door. One of them placed a breaching charge on the door and blew it open. They all funneled inside, covering all possible angles as they slowly walked up to the desk in the middle of the room.
"Ok, this is definitely a trap."
Just as Maverick said that, they heard a beep and a metal sheet began to descend, blocking the way they came in. They heard another beep and the computer on the desk began to smoke, burning everything on the hard drive.
"Put that fire out we need the evidence!" Clarke yelled.
While the others did that, Maverick turned his attention to the catwalk by the skylight. It was faint over the noise but he could still hear it.
Footsteps.
He took off for the back exit. If whoever was up there can get to the alley, they was no way for them to catch them since most of the agents were occupied with trying to get them out.
"Erik wait!" Mira yelled behind him but he ignored her.
He kicked the back door open just as the hooded figure made their way down the ladder. Maverick tackled them and ripped the hood off just as Mira and Ramirez reached him, just as surprised as he was. Mira took her phone out.
"Six, we have her."
"Good. Take her to the escort and we can call this a day."
"Yeah, no. We have a problem." Mira said.
"What do you mean?"
Mira looked at the teenager struggling on the ground as Maverick cuffed her.
"She's a kid."
