Special thanks to all you lovelies that have favorited and followed this story. Your interest makes my heart swell with happy feelings and other nice junk!
Fluff Helps Everything: I'm happy you like it! I'll definitely do my best to give you more Switzerland. I'm surprised about the more Belarus bit, though. I actually think I've been leaning too heavily on her POV (It's because I like her so much, Belarus is awesome!).
Ninilia: Thanks so much! I really like them as a group too. I'm surprised I haven't seen the four of them together more often.
"I have hand it to you, Alfie. Your people are still alive." Matthew Williams sat across from Alfred Jones, unconsciously mirroring him out of years of habit. The two were twins, though they decided against sharing a last name when they began pursuing their individual careers. It turned out to work well enough for them. Matthew tended to shy away from the press and the public in general, so if Alfred was careful he was never associated with the CEO of a company specializing in foreign contracts.
When they were younger, it was a favorite past-time of theirs to switch places. Though, they could never quite get the other's personality down they had fooled many people over the years. Matthew found it hard to replicate Alfred's stentorian charm and all around charisma. While Alfred struggled to master his twin's sarcasm and quiet demeanor.
Alfred smirked, "Of course they are! When have I ever lied to you about the agents my program produces?"
Matthew raised an eyebrow at him, "How about when you tried to convince me that Lupus was professional?"
Alfred chuckled, a little embarrassed. It had been awhile since Lupus and Lóng had been sent out into the field on their assigned missions. Honestly, Alfred had forgotten about the first trial members of the Desolation Project. Granted, they weren't trial members anymore. Phase one had gone off without a hitch and both agents were still active, five years later.
"Aw, you can't seriously be holding that against me, Mattie. Lupus performs just fine in the field. Better than expected, even!" Alfred grinned at his brother, a look that had already won the hearts of almost half the people in the United States. Matthew supposed Alfred thought it made him look endearingly goofy. But, to Matthew he just looked labrador puppy; annoying and stupid.
"And you're damn lucky he's so efficient. Still a pain trying to get information from him, though. Lóng is definitely my favorite, so compliant." He brushed some of his honey colored locks from his face. Though, the two were brothers there were slight differences in their appearance. For instance, Matthew's hair is a lighter blonde and slightly longer than Alfred's and his muted violet eyes are much softer than Alfred's startling sky blue orbs. He's slighter in build as well, but only by a small degree.
Alfred nodded, "So, what're your plans for this newest batch? They aren't designed to be assigned to personnel exchanges..."
"I'll most likely put them in leadership positions for teams doing foreign contracts. Speaking of personnel exchanges, I'm assuming phase three will be foreign dignitaries?"
"No, I'm going to start closer to home. I have to get solidly loyal votes. Based on the continued success of both personnel exchange trial agents, I'll start with men and women with the most power in the States. If I can get them behind me, the Presidency should be a synch. Then, for phase four I'll put someone I trust in charge of Desolation for when we increase the amount of assets produced." Alfred explained, sounding uncharacteristically thoughtful.
"Sounds like plan. On a completely unrelated note, what became of Francis? I know Arthur is still head of the academy, but Francis' skills haven't been needed since phase one."
Alfred gave a sly smile, "He's been under surveillance; has a business I keep my eye on. I've taken measures to insure he returns to the program when he's called."
"God, you're scary. Guess we really are brothers, huh?"
Alfred just shrugged noncommittally. The two brothers admittedly had a slightly strained relationship, mostly built on mutual respect and fear, as neither were exactly good people. Though, there was a time in their earlier years when most of their pernicious tendencies were directed at each other, they moved past this chapter of their lives. Later, choosing to observe a truce amongst themselves and eventually becoming united in purpose. Though, Alfred is much more ambitious, Matthew can be just as dangerous.
There was a timid knock and Alfred's secretary peeked her head in the door to Matthew's office, "Senator Jones, if you want to make your 3 o'clock, it's best we leave soon."
Alfred sighed and clapped his hands on the arms of his chair, "Well, I'll see you later, Mattie. I've got a press conference to attend. Lies to feed the media and all that."
Matthew stood and walked his brother to the door leading to his office, he shook his hand and sent him off. Alfred heard Matthew's office door close and turned for a look. Reading the gilded gold lettering on the door to his brother's office out of habit:
Matthew Williams
CEO Quarter Brink Enterprises
"Hey, Eduard, wake up!"
Eduard almost jumped out of his skin at the rude awakening, "Shit, Lukas!" He exclaimed, then winced at the massive headache he was now sporting. Removing his glasses, he rubbed his eyes and attempted to smooth down his messy bed-head.
"What do you want?" He addressed Lukas, who offered him the second cup of coffee in his hand in his non-dominant hand.
"Ivan wants to know if you've found anything." Lukas' face was devoid of emotion as he delivered the news.
Eduard slumped in his seat and was about to groan and throw his face back onto the desk where he had previously fallen asleep when a loud ping interrupted his despair. Eduard snapped his head up toward the computer screen and let out a cheer, "I found him!"
"Keep it down, Bock!" Matthias griped, tossing a pillow from where he was splayed on the couch next to Eduard's work station.
"Why are you sleeping on the couch?" Lukas asked, bored as Eduard frantically verified what was on his computer screen.
"Dude, Eduard was asleep too!" Matthias sat up to glare at his childhood friend, his usually unruly hair looking extra disheveled.
Lukas folded his arms, unimpressed. "He pulled an all nighter, what's your excuse?"
Matthias pouted, "I was the first one here and eight is really early. Not even the Beilschmidts are here, man!"
"Guys, shut up! Where is Ivan?" Eduard interjected, quickly loosing his cool. He had been searching for Lili's brother for three days now and this was the first whiff he'd caught of the supposedly kidnapped Vash Zwingli.
"What do you need me for, Eduard?" The three members of Severance whirled around to face the door to find Ivan with an unnerving grin on his face, flanked on either side by the Beilschmidt brothers. Honestly, the guy had good intentions. But, he was also unintentionally terrifying with all of his childishly innocent expressions. The guy was former KGB for crying out loud! The other members of Severance, aside from Gilbert, figured that he couldn't be as nice as he tried to seem. They argued that Gilbert's life debt to the man had to be the reason for his relatively positive image of the giant Russian.
Eduard gulped, "I think I found Zwingli, šeff."
"This is good. I wasn't able to get any information from my contacts. Very disappointing." Based on the incontestable homicidal aura emanating from the boss of Severance, it was obvious Ivan found it to be a little more than just "disappointing."
"It was in New York. Live footage from a news helicopter. Apparently, he isn't the best of company. Though, he's long gone now, there were witnesses. They are likely still within the city's limits."
"May I see the footage?" Ivan spoke as he made his way further into the garage, Gilbert and Ludwig following. The latter of which was being uncharacteristically quiet.
Eduard replayed news networks coverage of the van once everyone was gathered behind him around the large monitors. They watched as the scene come into view, starting with a picture of a young man and woman who were hiding behind a yellow CAT backhoe. The camera panned further forward to reveal a road cordoned off for construction and what the couple must've been hiding from. A group of armed men were suppressing an old rundown van as reinforcements from the police joined in. Inside the van was a blonde man operating a machine gun out of the side door, "That's him." Eduard pointed. Then the couple dashed to a nearby alleyway and the door to the van slammed shut as it sped off. "And then the rest of it is the van evading the police. It's actually pretty great, whoever driving that piece of crap is amazing. The police end up losing them and the video is over. I already ran the plates. Nothing came up. Our only bet is the couple at the beginning of the video."
Ivan was silent for a minute, "Rewind to the when they ran into the alley and see if you can give me a close up of the young woman's face."
It took only seconds for Eduard to comply. Blowing up the image of a delicate looking girl with a rather sour expression on her face, a hand to her ear.
"How long ago was this filmed?" Ivan asked.
"A day ago."
Ivan narrowed his gaze, "That girl is not just a witness. Eduard, track the girl's whereabouts. I want to know exactly where to be to find them when we arrive in New York. Gentlemen, pack your things. We're leaving Berlin as soon as possible."
"Alright, out!" Angler ordered as she pulled to the side of the country road and slammed the break. She quickly unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out of the car. "And grab two wrenches while you're at it!" Angler called from outside, keeping the driver door open as she whipped out a knife and used it to separate the plastic covering from the metal door. There stuffed inside amongst the wiring were two sets of new license plates. She smirked, proud of herself for doing this to both front seat doors of the old black van. Quickly she pulled out a set and slammed the door, walking around to the other side of the car to meet Trigger. She handed him one of the plates and took a wrench from him and one of the flashlights he had also brought. Those would certainly come in handy, as it was already night.
Trigger set out to work immediately. He rounded the back of the van and called to Angler, who was removing the front plate. "What's the plan after this? We've been driving for a whole day now, we're home free, right?" He said as he balanced the flashlight between his neck and shoulder.
Angler was silent for a minute. "I'm not sure. I think we're fine. But, do you think we'd be fine heading back into the city?"
Trigger furrowed his brows. "It's certainly risky. I know they caught at least part of my face on camera. What about you?" Trigger asked as he finished removing the license plate.
"I was wearing a hat, any traffic cam footage would have missed my face." Trigger could hear the grin in her voice. A few seconds later he really could see her smirking face as she met him at the back of the van. "We could go back. But, you'd have to be extra careful about anyone seeing that pretty face of yours." Her words were meant to taunt, but Trigger ignored them like a champ. He preferred quarreling with his fellow teammate when he was the instigator.
"Did you finish already?" He asked, tightening the second bolt. Angler nodded.
"So how about it?" She said, referring back to what they had been discussing moments ago, "We don't have time to wait for them at a safe house this far outside city limits. Head quarters would freak if we showed up unsuccessful, so we can't go back to them. We have to go get Kid and Porcelain to complete the mission."
Trigger thought about it as he finished securing the plate. He stood and turned to her, "I suppose you're right."
Angler grinned widely and then sobered, as if she had remembered something. "How do you think they're faring? Kid was attacked on the roof. Someone told them we would be there, so those men must know what they look like."
Trigger shrugged, "They're fine. Both trained agents. The important question is who told?"
Angler blinked at him for a moment, "You don't think it was one of the team, do you?!" She exclaimed.
"Honestly? I don't know. It could be one of us, or someone higher up." Trigger looked away with a perplexed expression. He didn't voice his suspicion of Angler, however.
"It's best not to dwell on it. You'll freak everyone out." She cautioned.
Trigger gave a slight nod in agreement. The two of them then climbed into the van and headed back toward the city.
"There's no need for such drastic measures, Porcelain! They've only been gone since yesterday. I'm sure they're coming back. Besides, it isn't like we can finish the mission without them when they're still alive." Kid pleaded desperately with Porcelain as she eyed the car she was currently planning to make him hot-wire, since she herself didn't know how.
It was a shiny new Dodge Durango and to Porcelain, it was much more appealing than Angler's piece of junk van. Plus, she was sick of walking everywhere. Last night they slept in one of those homeless people villages. In short, Porcelain was not in a good mood today.
Toris looked at the two of them in confusion, "Wait, how do you know they're alive?"
Porcelain narrowed her gaze and gestured to a store window with TVs showing the local news' coverage of their teammates' escape from the city. Toris flushed in embarrassment and quickly turned away from her piercing gaze.
Porcelain ignored Toris and addressed her teammate with a flat look, "Okay, then what do you suggest we do?"
"There's a city safe house nearby, right? We head there. Angler and Trigger will know to look for us there and we can better keep watch of Toris."
"You're on a first name basis with the captive now?"
Toris winced at Porcelain's words and The Kid just shrugged.
Porcelain looked back and forth between the two with a fiercely annoyed look on her face. "Fine. We'll head to the safe house."
Both men breathed a sigh of relief as she turned in the direction of the safe house and stomped off, the two of them following closely behind.
"So, why exactly were we sent to get you." Kid asked with mild interest after they had traveled a good few blocks. Technically he didn't need to know. He was just an agent after all and agents don't ask questions. They follow orders.
Toris gave him a sidelong glance, "Even if I knew. I'm guessing I wouldn't be permitted to tell you."
His answer surprised The Kid, as it was the first time since they met up that Toris had given off an air contrary to his first impression, which to be frank, was weak. But, just now he sounded unnaturally evasive. The Kid was now positive he knew something. He shouldered his rifle bag and continued walking as if nothing happened.
The trio arrived about ten minutes later in a part of town were few police patrolled. "We need to lay low the rest of they way. None of us are scary enough to ward off the locals." said The Kid. Porcelain and Toris nodded their agreement, but there wasn't much they could do. So, they continued, hoping they wouldn't get noticed.
After a few minutes more minutes of tense walking, they made it to the safe house without incident. The entrance was a metal door with an eye slot, in an alleyway.
Porcelain wasted no time, she stepped to the door and knocked.
Moments later the eye slot slide open. A pair of black sunglasses appeared in the slot and asked, "The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil."
Porcelain answered, "Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone."
The door opened to reveal the rest of the mysterious man with the black sunglasses. He had dark styled hair and was wearing button down shirt and dark pants. "You idiots with those fuckers that almost got arrested yesterday?" He drawled as he ushered them through the door.
Porcelain glared at him. "I don't know. Has anybody ever told you only douche bags where sunglasses indoors?"
"Fuck off, bitch." He shot back.
The Kid quickly stepped in before Porcelain could retaliate. As he was sure she had already devised six different and very painful ways of killing him with his own sunglasses. "I'm The Kid, this is Toris, and that's Porcelain." He said with a friendly smile.
The man snorted, "I'm Vegas. How long do you plan on staying here?"
Porcelain clicked her tongue, "Until the end of the day. After that, if our teammates still haven't shown up, I'm stealing a car."
Vegas only responded with a vaguely impressed, "Heh." An awkward silence followed after him and quickly engulfed the room.
Porcelain continued thinking up ways to eliminate Vegas, as she still didn't like him. Right now she was at ten different variations. Some more slight than others.
The Kid was trying desperately to think of an ice breaker conversation starter and was continually falling up short.
Vegas was concocting new ways to insult them all. So, far he hadn't come up with anything he was satisfied with. He wanted each one to be scathing enough to insight fear.
Toris, the captive, was hoping that no matter what, no one would die. He wasn't sure he could handle a situation with dead people.
The silence persisted and it felt as if it might go on endlessly, until it was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Here have some plot. Who are Lupus and Lóng? Who are Arthur and Francis and how are they important? How is Quarter Brink Enterprises involved? How did those baddies find our heroes? From where did Ivan recognize Belarus? Is there really a traitor in the team? Does Toris know something? Seriously, I hinted at so much in this chapter. I don't even know what to do with myself.So, I've skipped some introductions. Sorry about that. Here you go:
Severance Members (in order of appearance):
Ivan: Russia
Gilbert: Prussia
Eduard: Estonia
Matthias: Denmark
Lukas: Norway
Ludwig: Germany
Other characters (more or less in order of appearance):
Lili: Liechtenstein
The Boss/Alfred: America
Matthew: Canada
Toris: Lithuania
Vegas: Molossia
Super astronomical herculean mammoth sized thanks for reading. Honestly, you're the best! You know what else is the best? Reviews!
-FRA