036. Mischief Managed

Bennett looked around the small, unfamiliar room. He didn't remember much about his arrival. In fact, the throb in his head told him he was most likely knocked out. But by who? Who would bring him to this small dusty space?

He thought harder and recalled a flash of red. Red…

RED.

He must have been captured while scouting for a new perch. But why wasn't he chained to a chair for interrogation, or locked in one of the cells under base? He stood up swiftly as a quiet whoosh of air brushed his ear. The whoosh was the answer to his questions.

A masked face appeared in front of him. The Sniper groaned mentally.

"You again." His voice was laced with poisonous sarcasm. "What pleasure do I owe your visit this time?" The Spy grinned, pleased with the Sniper's annoyance, no doubt.

"You'll see." He waved an envelope in his face. The tip caught his hat and knocked it loose. Bennett snatched the envelop with a growl, muttering insults and righting his hat. At least now he knew he wasn't in the RED base. If he were, Marcel wouldn't risk showing him this new piece of evidence.

"You could've just told me to meet you here. You spies are all too spook-like."

"It comes with the job." He blinked. "Besides, last time I approached you for a meeting you jammed your knife through my left lung." His gaze turned bitter for a moment before regaining his composure. "Are you going to open it or not?"

"I'll open it when I bloody well feel like it." Bennett snapped back. Despite the reply, he tore open the envelop and pulled out a paper full of numbers and letters. It made his brain hurt just looking at the rows of small writing.

"What am I looking at?"

"Ah, so you have no clue either." The Spy began to pace. "It looks like some sort of code. I've already asked our Engineer but he has no clue what they mean either." He shook his head. "I know it's important. It could very well solve the whole puzzle. But we need someone who can decode it."

"Yes, someone else who can easily decipher anything." He pulled a small photo from his pocket. Bennett recognized his Spy and Marcel's Sniper. "Show the paper to your Spy. I've heard of his skills, and I know we can trust him. Unless he wants the administrator to find out about his relations with Alistair at least."

"If you can't figure this gibberish out, then what makes you think he can?"

"As I said, I hear he can decipher almost anything thrown his way. And even if he can't figure it all out, having three people working on it is better than just the two of us. Perhaps even four, if we can convince Alistair to join us. If your Spy agrees then I'm sure my Sniper will."

"Or he'll give us away."

"He won't. Trust me on this."

"Asking me to trust you is like asking a snake to pet sit a mouse." He shoved the paper in his pocket. "You better hope this works out, because I won't be so quick to do it again."

"That's all I ask." Marcel replied. "If it doesn't work then I won't bother you at work for a month."

"That's what you say." He shook his head, ignoring the Spy. "So far this case isn't exactly moving in our favour, is it?"

"Not in the least." Marcel brought out a small notepad and pen. "We can say the Administrator is working for both sides. We can confirm it has something to do with the Nucleus map. We can even say she stole blueprints from Blutarch Mann. But unless we can tie it all together, we're going nowhere but an early grave."

"Tell me something I don't know." Bennett replied blankly and eyed his watch. Marcel mirrored his actions and hummed as he realized how late it had gotten.

"You'd best return to your base before your team grows suspicious. Remember to bring your Spy." Before Bennett could ask where the Spy had taken him, he was gone with the whoosh of his cloaking device. He sighed heavily and made his way outside to look for anything familiar.

Luckily for him, he could tell how far his base was. He was closer to the RED side than he normally went, but would no doubt be able to sneak back to his own unnoticed.

Or so he hoped. No sooner had he re-entered the large blue building, he was pulled aside and shoved in a closet.

"What is it with you Spies and shoving people into small rooms?" He complained once he realized who it was.

"My apologies, I just needed to remove you from the camera's sight." The BLU Spy replied. "So what happened this time? I assume you weren't out enjoying the pollution, right?"

"Yeah, Red Spy has more evidence." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled paper. "He wanted me to 'convince' you to decipher whatever alien language this is. Also meaning you can officially join the group."

"Brilliant. No more sneaking around, then." He scanned the paper. "This is... A lot. Has he tried anything yet?"

"He didn't say. I suppose we'll have to work on it by ourselves for now."

"I see." The BLU Spy neatly folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket. "i will start now. You should go to bed. Our next mission starts in three hours."

"That's wonderful." bennett found himself yawning at the mention of sleep. He was just about to leave when he remembered something else.

"I almost forgot, you and that Sniper need to be more careful. The RED Spy fancies himself a photographer."

"...of course... We will be more careful from now on." The pair then separated and left for their rooms. The Spy, to decipher the message, and the Sniper, to get in a hasty three hour night before the mission began.

(I wrote this for school again... xD)