Chapter 39: The Mission Begins Anew

"You know, in hindsight, it probably was a good idea to fly into one of the countries neighboring Romania, rather than fly into Bucharest outright. . . Can't be too safe than sorry of course."

Cody and Randy both nodded at Ted's words, hearing him easily enough through the round of applause that the rest of the passengers were giving the flight crew after landing the plane safely on the tarmac. This wasn't their original plan, but so far, it has been a successful second option.

After taking a quick rest, Randy soon found himself pulled into another meeting between himself, Ted, Cody, Finn, Hunter, and John, the latter two joining in via Skype. While the original plan was to fly into Bucharest while disguised to avoid detection, John was quick to point out that with Punk on Mr. S' payroll, he probably warned him of the exact tactic they were planning.

After all, their practices haven't been updated much since Punk was still their co-worker.

So, they ended up going with John's suggestion: flying into one of the countries that neighbored Romania before entering it outright. Varna, Bulgaria was the largest non-Romanian city that was closest to Bucharest, so it ended up being their new destination on the itinerary. With that in mind, John was quick to snag the last tickets on an early flight, one with short stopovers in Boston and London.

On the other hand, Randy, Ted, and Cody were forced to take a later flight that had one long stopover in Copenhagen. Both Randy and Cody were a little miffed at how late their flight was, but they had to admit that it was a little advantageous to have one of their own scope out the scene before they arrived.

"It may be a longer journey, but at least we're here," Cody mumbled as they felt the plane get taxied toward the terminal. ". . . And now the real work begins."

The three men remained silent as the plane continued to be brought to its assigned gate. Once the aircraft was parked, they joined the crowd and disembarked, which they tried to do as quick as possible. Since they had flown out on such short notice, they ended up with seats on the very back of the plane, right before the bathrooms.

Let's just say that the flight was definitely not a good experience for their noses.

They were the last three off the plane, and as they were walking toward the customs area, Cody and Randy couldn't help but notice that Ted was no longer following after them. They both stopped and turned their heads to find Ted admiring his reflection in the mirror, completely oblivious to the stares the others were giving him.

"You can't be serious?!" Cody finally exclaimed, breaking the silence as Ted finally turned to see their reactions.

"I was just making sure that the disguise was holding up . . ." Ted weekly mumbled as he walked up to the two. "Is that such a bad thing to do?"

"I knew we shouldn't have let you take the brown amulet. . ." Cody grumbled as Randy started walking ahead. Ted simply smirked as he walked up to him, now looking completely unapologetic as Cody punched him in the shoulder. "I knew letting you disguise yourself as a dark-haired Spaniard would get to your head."

The camouflage amulets, once placed on one's body, completely disguised the wearer in the eyes of everyone that looked upon him or her. It changed their hair, eyes, skin tone, everything except their body type. When Ted looked through the stash of amulets at the NY HQ, he made sure to try all of them until he stopped on the one he liked the best, which is why he was now walking around disguised as a green eyed, tanned skin man that wouldn't look out of place on the streets of Barcelona.

Cody went with a light blue amulet that turned him into a long haired surfer dude, complete with an Australian accent, and Randy went with a dark red one that turned him into a curly haired, olive skinned man with glasses that gave him a bit of a 'Clark Kent' vibe.

"Hey, I wanted to make sure that my disguise was a good one, and a good one, it is," Ted mumbled as the sounds of the flight attendants talking reached their ears. "I'm going to get all the mileage out of this thing for as long as I can!"

"Yep, it definitely has gotten to your head," Cody mumbled, jogging to catch up to their taller friend. "So, where are we supposed to meet John again?"

"According to his last text, he was going to set up shop in an internet cafe just outside of the baggage claim." Randy mumbled, checking his pocket to make sure that his phone was still there. "He said that when we got there, look for a man with shaggy brown hair and blue glasses."

"Hmm, that shouldn't be too hard. . ."

Finn quickly had his people create passports that corresponded to their disguises, passports the three used to pass through customs easily enough before claiming their duffle bags from baggage claim. Walking into the main corridor, the three looked around until they spotted the sign for the internet cafe down the hall.

Thanks to the all-glass front wall, the three were able to peer in to see that the cafe wasn't that busy. Aside from a small family watching a movie and the lone employee manning the front counter, the only other person in the place was a stocky, pale man with shaggy brown hair sitting at the computer that was in the furthest corner of the room.

"That must be John," Ted mumbled as Randy took his phone out. "Hopefully, he managed to find out a lot while waiting for the rest of us to show up."

"We can only hope Ted," Cody mumbled as the Viper quickly fired off a text before he put his phone away. The three watched as John flinched and reached into his pocket to get his phone out. After he read the message, he looked up, saw the three, gave them a small wave, and then quickly logged off the computer before picking up his duffle bag to join them. "Long time no see John."

"Likewise, my man," said John as he greeted each of them with either a handshake or a slap to the back. "However, for the sake of this mission, you guys can call me Michael. Before we continue, who is who, and what are the names you're going by while we're here in Europe?"

"Well, I'm Cody, but for now, you can call me Jaime." Cody mumbled.

"I'm Ted," said Ted as he pointed to himself. "But you can call me Juan . . . Should I speak with an accent?"

"You need to work it in more," John added before turning to his fellow glasses wearing mercenary. "So that must mean you're Randy, or is it Harry now? Louis? Jason?"

"Keith; you can just call me Keith." Randy mumbled as they started to slowly walk toward the exit.

"Really? You went with your middle name?" John grumbled as the four started walking toward the exit. "You could have been a little more creative than that."

"And yet, all good lies have a bit of truth in them, remember?" Randy bit right back as the four passed by a group of women that gave them some appreciative looks. "Anyway, did you manage to make any progress while you were here?"

"I did some decent leg work, but first, let's get on the road. I already managed to get us a rental we could use for the rest of our mission," John announced as he started taking the lead. "Better to speak in the privacy of an SUV instead of out in the open in an airport terminal."

Once the four were out in the cool evening air, they made their way into the large parking lot, where John led them over to a black SUV that looked practically brand new. After packing their bags into the trunk, John and Randy got into the front seats while Ted and Cody got into the back. Ted wanted the front passenger seat, but one glare from Randy was enough to stop him in his tracks before he even had the chance to ask.

"Alright, we need to get on to the A2 highway. Once we're past Shumen, we need to switch to the E70 until we reach Ruse."

"Ruse?" Cody asked as John started up the engine.

"It's the last major city we would reach before heading into Romanian territory," John announced as he pulled their car out of its spot. "It's also where we'll be meeting an old contact of mine. I asked him to do some digging into the Romanian coven for me, and he says he has some results. . ."

"Can this contact be trusted?" Randy asked as he kept his eyes on the road.

"I've bailed him out of some sticky situations in the past, so he practically owes me at this point. . . Trust me, Kozlov is trustworthy. As long as you don't insult him, we should all be fine."

"I'll take your word for it." Randy mumbled as he looked off to the side. "Were you able to do some research on the coven on your own?"

"A little bit; there's no point trying to Google search a coven, so looking into specific members was my next best bet. Thankfully, Hunter managed to get me a few names that I could look into," John mumbled as they joined the traffic leading out of the airport. "Surprisingly, a lot of them are quite chatty on social media. The big talk is some big meeting being held in Bucharest tomorrow."

"Hunter did mention that when we talked a while back," Cody mumbled. "It's supposed to be their annual meeting where all the regional heads come together to discuss things happening within their respective regions; what could be scaled back, what can be improved, so on and so forth."

"That's what a lot of the older members talked about," John agreed. "However, most of the younger members were more focused on the gala that's supposed to happen once the meeting concludes. . . Apparently, they're going for a masquerade theme this year."

"A masquerade theme?" Ted asked, the gears already turning in his mind. "That would give us the perfect chance to sneak in and do some digging in their computer systems."

"You just want a good excuse to practice your James Bond routine. . ." Cody sarcastically mused, though he had to admit that Ted's idea did have some merit. ". . . Still, Ted does make a good point."

"It has been a while since we have infiltrated a fancy party." the Viper mused, smirking despite himself. It was a look that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of his crew, who probably had an inkling as to what he was thinking right now.

"I highly doubt that he's thinking about enjoying a nice party right now. . ." Ted mumbled, and Cody couldn't help but nod his head in agreement.

"If that party involves gruesomely ending the man who kidnapped his soulmate, then maybe," Cody pointed out, his smirk matching the Viper's own. ". . . And I wouldn't blame him for it."

"I'm still shocked that the girl you guys were tasked to protect is Randy's soulmate, and that Cody's soulmate is one of the friends that were taken with her . . ." John mumbled as he spotted a sign that indicated the highway they needed to take. ". . . I can't wait to meet them."

"If things all go well, you'll meet them soon," Randy mused. ". . . You'll meet them soon enough."

In Bucharest

"Nothing like a successful day at work to really get the blood flowing. . ." Mr. S mumbled as he walked into his office. Being the one tasked with organizing and preparing the masquerade ball that was set to happen once the annual meeting was over, he had spent the majority of his afternoon meeting with his planning committee to go over the venue and any last minute details that needed to be addressed.

Being a stickler for efficiency and perfection, Mr. S made sure that everything was looked over with a fine-tooth comb before he was truly satisfied, dismissing his people for the night while he returned to his office. His brother had already headed home earlier in the day, leaving him as the highest ranked member of the coven currently in the building. It was a position he found himself liking, a position he would hope to make permanent soon enough.

"Hmm, 8:15 huh?" He mused as he looked at the clock that hung on the wall across from him. "Punk should be calling within the hour . . . I could sneak in some work until then."

He spent the next few minutes on his computer, looking over files and case reports from the regional branches spread throughout the country, a task his brother had left him with before leaving for the day. When the clock struck 8:30, his cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and he was quick to answer it, speaking into the receiver in seconds.

"Right on time Punk," Mr. S chuckled, knowing who exactly was on the other end of the line. "Any changes since you last called?"

"All the security teams have reported no sighting of Orton and company coming into the city through any of the major transportation areas," Punk announced. "Him and his crew may not be planning to come in through any of them. . ."

"You believe that him and his pals may have gone with a quieter option?"

"It's possible they may not try to come into Bucharest immediately," Punk quickly theorized. "They could be driving in after arriving in a nearby city, or from one of the neighboring countries."

"If they went with the latter, it only makes them that much harder to track down." Mr. S grumbled, not liking this possibility. "Well now . . . Looks like we can't take any more chances. We need to move all of our operations closer to the city. Abandon the chateau and move the girls to the villa. I'll meet you there."

"Villa Stoica, here we come. . ." Punk mumbled. "Anything else sir?"

"Have you checked your accounts recently?"

"Indeed, I have sir!" Mr. S couldn't help but smirk at how pleased his subordinate sounded. He could picture his grin right as he spoke. "I must say, I really appreciate the bonus."

"You have done well ever since you joined my side. It only made sense," Mr. S calmly explained as he turned off his computer. "As long as you keep it up, the money will continue to flow."

"Good to know." And with that, Punk hung up, leaving Mr. S to his ever-changing thoughts.

"Orton and company are possibly much closer than I expected" He mused as he got out of his seat. "Soon enough, they will realize that they are far too late to change matters. . . I always get what I want. It's only a matter of time."

A/N: Please review!