I stepped outside and immediately regretted not bringing a heavier jacket. Then again, the only jacket heavier than mine was Boris' and... I glanced back at the barracks, hearing the muffled voices inside. They were hostile. I sighed and moved on, trudging through the snow towards the hangar.

What could Winston want with me? Ever since Lena and I had flown three days earlier, the snow had been coming down harder than ever! If we couldn't go flying, what were we supposed to do? Talk? Go through the basics of flight? Eat bananas? Actually, that sounds like something Winston would force on us...

I reached the hangar, boots full of snow, ears and nose already showing the first signs of frostbite. As I put my hand on the door handle, I stopped, thinking back. The Major had been wearing just his uniform. How the hell did he- My thoughts were interrupted by the door slamming open, sending me flying into the snow.

"I vill not stand for zis! That is plain suicide!" Reinhardt came stomping out through the now-broken door, stepping on me in the process. Thankfully, real-life isn't like the cartoons, and I didn't stick to his foot as he kept walking. No, he nearly crushed my ribs instead.

"Vat the- Cov!" Reinhardt immediately brightened, picking me up out of the snow and giving me a bear hug. "Vat are you doing down zere?"

"Trying to- *cough* not die." I groaned, as Reinhardt crushed my body even further.

"Rein! Put 'im down, love! You're killin' him!"

"Ah, yes, my apologies. I forget my own strength sometimes!" He set me back down in the snow, giving me a pat on the head. I swear, if he wasn't twice my height and had twice as many muscles I'd-

"Yoo hoo! Cov! Wakey wakey! Hehe! You look loike you're gonna murder a chap, love!" Lena said, waving her hand in front of my face. "Rememba! Rein's a big guy!"

"How the heck do you read my mind so easily, Lena?" I asked, rubbing my sore chest.

"Easy! I just look at 'cha!"

"Are you saying I'm easy to read?"

"Yep!" Giggle.

"Why you little-"

"Cov! Please, come in." Winston said, stopping me in the middle of my sentence. "We were just talking about you."

"You were, eh? Why were my ears frozen then?" I said, stepping into the warmth of the hangar. Well, relative warmth. It was a hangar.

"What do you mean?" Winston said, scratching his chin. I sighed.

"When people talk about you your ears are supposed to get warm, ya know?" Winston shook his head. I sighed again. "I wouldn't expect a monkey to understand..."

"I'm an ape, just so you know. Apes are smarter, stronger, and faster than plain old, 'monkeys'."

"Alright alright, no need to get defensive." I said, rolling my eyes at the ground. Once I had successfully removed the ice that trapped my feet inside my boots, I took them off and hung up my coat. Reinhardt and Lena did the same. Well, no they didn't. They weren't wearing coats. Because they had already been inside. Talking to a monkey. Kill me.

Winston gestured to a chair just opposite of him, and I took my seat. Reinhardt and Lena followed suit. In different chairs. Because I was already sitting in the one Winston had gestured to. Why am I explaining this.

When everyone was settled, Winston clapped his hands- err, paws- err... what do monk- apes have? I'm just gonna go with hands. Winston clapped his hand-things together and said, "Here's the deal."

We waited.

And waited.

And waited again.

He sai- nope. We waited some more.

After a minute, Winston continued. "We want to send you on a mission, Cov."

I shrugged. "Alright. What's the mission?"

"A simple retrieval. You see, an... associate of ours," Winston glanced at Reinhardt. "was captured."

"That's not a 'retrieval'. That's a rescue." I said, folding my arms.

"You didn't let me finish. She doesn't need a rescue. She got away with relative ease. However, the briefcase she was carrying did not."

"Typical."

"She was carryin- excuse me what?"

"Nothing."

"You said something."

"Nope."

"Yes you did."

"No I did not."

"Stop lying Cov."

"I'm not lying."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Oh mein Gott, VHAT IS ZE MATTER WITH YOU TWO?!" Reinhardt yelled, slamming his fist into the table. Yes, into. I used proper grammar. "You are acting like children!"

"I'm simply saying that Cov said something." Winston said, frowning.

"And I'm simply disagreeing." I said, shrugging.

"Töte mich jetzt, STOP ARGUING! VINSTON! GET TO ZE POINT! AND COV! SHUT-UP!"

"Geez louise, alright Reinhardt. Don't have to be such a dick about it..." I said sulkily.

"VHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"Nothin'."

"YOU SAID SOMETHI- vait a minute."

I grinned and winked at Reinhardt, making him give me the evil eye. I could hear Lena stifling laughter.

"ANYWAYS, as I was saying, our associate was carrying a briefcase that contained some VERY important blueprints that may or may not end up bringing the end of the world if they fall into the wrong hands." Winston looked at me.

"So you want me to go get them so that the big baddies don't end the world yadda yadda I've heard it a thousand times someone hire a new writer."

"What?"

"Nothing. Where am I going?"

"Your destination is a city named Oasis. You've heard of it, I assume?"

I frowned. "Of course I have, that place's like the science capitol of the world, right?"

"Correct. You will make a brief stop in Toronto to pick up your gear and meet with our associate to discuss the more intricate stuff. Got it?"

"Can you just tell me who this 'associate' is? It's a pain to write that wor- I mean it's annoying to hear it over and over again."

Winston sighed. "Her name is Dr. Angela Ziegler."

My eyebrows shot up. Angela? SHE was the associate? If she was the one carrying the blueprints, then they might really be important. Or it could just be plot convenience. Either one.

"Alright, when am I leaving?"

"Tonight."

I gawked. "Tonight? It's already 'tonight'!"

"I know. There's a Snow Trekker outside ready to take you to the airport."

"A... Snow Trekker?" I frowned. "I'm seriously going in one of those?"

"No other transportation was available. You're gonna need to tough it out."

I sighed. "Alright, fine." I stood up and trudged over to my boots, slipping them on and grabbing my coat. I made my way back to the table when I realized that Lena had her stuff on too. I immediately grew suspicious.

"Why do you have your stuff on too?" I said, squinting at her. She smiled.

"Why do ya think? I'm comin' with ya, love!"

My shoulders slumped. "For the whole mission or...?"

"Yep! The whole bloody thing!"

My shoulders slumped further. A boring mission with her shouldn't have seemed that bad, considering the fact that we'd have plenty of 'fun time' (if ya know what I mean), but that also meant I'd have to babysit her throughout the process. Basically, I'd have to body-block everything. I hate my life.

"Yes, that was the thing me and Reinhardt were arguing about." Winston said, glancing at the big German.

"I still insist it's too dangerous!"

"It's a TEAMBUILDING exercise! They won't see much combat, if any at all! Not in a city like Oasis!"

"No. I vill not risk our only pilot."

"There is no risk!"

"Yes, there is."

"No, there isn't."

"Stop. I vill not argue vith you."

"Rein, remember my track record?" I said, sympathetic. "If worse comes to worse, I'll just pull out and lock Lena in her room or something."

"Oi! You certainly will not!"

"I certainly will."

"Will not!"

"Will."

"COV! Cov!" Reinhardt gave a half-hearted laugh, attempting to defuse the bomb that was ready to go off. "It's alright. She can go. Just promise me you'll keep her in vone piece?"

"Of course."

"Good. Good. Alright, come, I'll show you to the Trekker."

Reinhardt stood up and headed to the opposite side of the hangar, with me and Lena in tow. As we reached the door that lead to the docking bay, Winston called out to me.

"Cov! Wait!"

I turned towards the monk- ape, hoping that I wouldn't get another lengthy speech. Instead, I turned just in time to catch a small sphere he had thrown at me. Playing baseball helps.

"What's this?" I said, turning it over in my hands. It was a small, flat sphere with a sort of raised triangle in the middle. You knew about the sphere already, I was just repeating it for clarifica-

"Just a prototype I've been working on. If you remember, use it on your mission and tell me how it does."

"What does it do?"

"...I'm not sure."

"What?!"

"No time to explain, go quick! It's almost midnight!"

Reinhardt glanced at the gigantic watch on his even more gigantic wrist. "Ah yes! Ve must go!" He grabbed me and Lena and yanked us out the door, and into the freezing cold Alaskan weather. I really shoulda brought that coat.