[A/N:]
Part Three.
The lights suddenly flickered out and in an ear-splitting noise, shutters crashed down from the windows onto the concrete to pitch the whole interior in black. Vi's breath caught in her throat, but her visor was undeterred in the targets it showed her and her feet wobbled only slightly before she forced them to move.
Then, the emergency lights turned on. The whole foyer was suddenly tinged in red and as the shutters closed, screams erupted from the people now trapped in the building. A shrieking siren blared through the intercom. The fire alarm went off and the sprinkler heads turned on.
In other words, all hell broke loose.
"What the fuck is going on here?!" yelled one of the men in tech armour.
"Who turned the lights out?!" another shouted in panic.
"The patrol isn't responding!" a third voice chimed in with desperation.
The criminals pointed their firearms towards the ceiling, freaked out beyond belief, and only sluggishly gathered what was happening around them. By the time Vi had reached the first of the men, it was too late for him.
She drew her fist back and punched him clean across the foyer, where he slammed into a column and sank down, unconscious.
"Fucking hell! They're here!"
Vi didn't stop her momentum and instead immediately rushed the two men in power armour standing by the entrance. One of them dropped his weapon in a stupor and only barely managed to throw his arms up in order to block Vi's attack.
He skidded backwards on the wet floor and his armour flashed, but he held his ground. The other aimed his sidearm at Vi and fired six shots in blind panic, four of which connected with the protective barrier shielding her upper body.
"Kill her!"
The other men just now regained their senses and started rounding on Vi. Caitlyn watched the whole scene from her hiding spot, her heart was about ready to beat out of her chest.
Focus, Caitlyn. It's now or never!
She seized the opportunity Vi had created to close the distance on the hostages. They were cowering on the ground, screaming and pleading not to be killed, scrambling over each other to get away from the sudden fighting.
When Caitlyn reached them, she firmly grabbed the first one she could get a hold on by the arm.
"I'm Detective Fitzwilliam, I'm getting you out of here!"
The man spun around to face her, his tearful eyes wide and glassy. He was shaking like a leaf, his shirt was starting to soak through from the sprinklers.
"Get to the office across from the staircase! We'll handle this!"
Caitlyn pointed to where she and Vi had been hiding and dragged the man forward by his collar. She pushed at his back, finally getting him to move with another decisive command. The other hostages saw the exchange and quickly fell in line.
Caitlyn crouched in front of the receptionist's desk, her rifle ready for action and kept a close eye on the skirmish unfolding no more than a few metres from her. Vi was now swinging her fists around wildly, desperately fending off six men who were trying to beat her down in a frantic melee.
However, two more men were finally catching up to the hostages making a run for it. They turned, guns pointed straight into the crowd of people surrounding Caitlyn.
"Like hell you're getting away!"
Caitlyn's eyes flashed and she ripped her arms up, lining up a shot, and firing. A searing hot plasma round hit the man in the shoulder and he screamed. His arm fell limp at his side as he lost the grip on his weapon.
With a click and a squeeze, she gunned him down with a second shot to his leg. He fell to the ground, not knowing whether to hold his shoulder or shin, and wailed in agony.
The other man managed to loosen a short salvo of shots at Caitlyn.
The rounds hit her in the abdomen and she grunted from the impact, but thankfully her nano suit absorbed most of it. She snarled and returned fire, shooting him into both of his feet in quick succession. He keeled over with a surprised yelp, faceplanting right onto the marble floor.
Caitlyn switched over to her special rounds and fired her electrical net at him, pinning him to the ground in a tangled heap. The shock to his nervous system rendered him unconscious immediately.
Her hand briefly pressed against her body, where she'd received the fire, but she couldn't feel anything despite a numbness beneath her hardened muscles. She got up from her crouch, satisfied that the hostages were now mostly in safety. They had managed to get out of the hot zone without sustaining losses.
They weren't finished, however.
Vi was currently breaking another man's nose, three of them lay at her feet already. She was engaged in a grapple with one of the heavies. He'd drawn a baton and was mercilessly swinging at her, which had her on the defence.
Caitlyn watched the exchange for about half a second before determining that Vi's quick footwork would keep her on her toes. She popped out the spent heat sink on her rifle and deftly reloaded.
A static crackle in her implanted ear piece reached her. It was Monroe.
"Fitz! We're ready, open the gates!"
Caitlyn fired a shot at a man trying to get at Vi from behind and felled him.
"Vi! Disengage! We need a door!"
Vi grunted with exertion as she swatted the baton away from her face once more, "Kinda busy, Cait!"
"The shutters, Vi! Get us out of here now!"
Vi snarled and managed to get in between the burly man's defences. She closed the distance and tackled him with her shoulder, sending him crashing into another column. She took another step and shifted her weight, putting all of it behind her punch.
It hit him square in the stomach and he doubled over, spit flying from his mouth. The column behind him cracked dangerously.
"Do it!" Caitlyn ordered once more and Vi finally did as she was told.
"Well there you have it!" Vi shouted angrily and powered up her gauntlet.
She battered her fist at the glass window, shattering it completely. Her fist kept flying and as it connected with the dark steel shutters, the tech armour unleashed the stored power behind the punch.
A blast erupted from Vi's knuckles, destroying the metal plates and sending them flying. The noise from the shrieking metal had Caitlyn grinding her teeth and she shielded her face from the glass shards raining down on them.
Dust and sharp pieces of steel and glass were catapulted outside onto the street, and through the gap Caitlyn could see muted sunlight filtering in. A rock seemed to fall through her chest in relief.
Soon after, shadowed figures appeared in the gap, marching inside the building with flashlights mounted to their masks and guns pointed to the men strewn about the foyer.
Finally. It was over.
A chorus of "Clear!" soon surrounded the two women. Vi jumped back surprised and she was just about to attack the next guy stepping through the gap on sight, but Caitlyn reached her before she could act and held her back with a hand on her shoulder.
"Vi, stop!"
Vi whirled around with wild eyes, she was panting.
"Those are our guys," Caitlyn simply explained and watched as the frenzy evaporated from Vi's gaze.
The Wardens rushed in, armed to the teeth and efficiently detaining the men lying around. Caitlyn found Nick among them and stopped him briefly.
"There are three more men locked in an office in the EDP department on the first floor. We've apprehended them, but they need medical attention."
Nick nodded grimly, "Got it."
He waved over some of his colleagues and together, they made their way up the stairs to find the remaining men.
Caitlyn took a deep breath as a familiar routine began that was so ingrained into her senses, that it managed to calm her almost instantly. She blinked her eyes to switch her oculars back into regular mode.
Next to her, Vi still looked like she was about to vibrate, but at least she'd lowered her fists. The gauntlets were steaming and scratches were visible on the metal surface.
Monroe was the last to step through the gap and he immediately steered towards Caitlyn, entirely heedless of the torrent of water still pummelling down on them.
"Good work, Fitz!"
He clapped her on the shoulder, "For a second I thought you'd get yourselves killed in here, but it seems your plan worked out."
His eyes crinkled around the edges and Caitlyn knew this was as much a smile as the man could muster. Caitlyn nodded at him.
"Good timing on your part."
Monroe barked a few orders to his men and they hurried along. The hostages were escorted out of the building. They looked worse for wear, but seemed unharmed.
"All the remaining twenty-two hostages safe and sound. Well, I'll be damned," he mused and crossed his arms.
"A smashing success, quite literally," Monroe leaned forward and looked around Caitlyn, towards Vi, "You pack a serious punch, girl."
Vi's face was stone. Caitlyn's eyes darted from Monroe to Vi and she was almost certain that, despite Vi's lack of a response, she saw an appreciative gleam in her eyes.
"Get a move on, boys. I want to be home before dinner. And would someone please turn off the damn water?"
He turned back to Caitlyn, "We'll wrap this up, collect the bodies from the vault… You know the drill. You two get out of here and report back to your superiors."
Monroe made to walk away, but turned back and pointed a finger at Vi, who straightened in response.
"For what it's worth, keep your partner around! She seems capable."
The quip was probably meant as a simple thanks to the both of them, but Caitlyn felt something unfold in her chest. It felt like satisfaction.
Yes, the operation had been a success. Despite the tragic deaths, the other hostages were freed, no-one else had died once the two of them had arrived at the scene, and Caitlyn's cover as a Detective hadn't been blown in the process.
Caitlyn could ignore the damage Vi'd done to the interior. Surely someone else would deal with that.
A cautious smile crept on Caitlyn's face and the warm feeling in her chest persisted.
Back at the office, Caitlyn and Vi were greeted with congratulations and praise from various agents they passed in the hallways.
Of course, Caitlyn mused, word had already done the rounds in the Agency. A notification to her tech-tool had reached her the second she'd set foot into the building. She wouldn't have been surprised had Agent Markham installed a mole among Monroe's men in order to monitor her.
She jutted her chin out; Markham was the kind of person to do something like that, but even then no-one could deny the successful outcome of the operation.
When they entered the elevator, Caitlyn punched in two destinations, and they went down first. Vi looked at her questioningly.
"Isn't your office up?"
"Yes, but we need to have our gear cleaned and your power cells need a recharge."
The elevator doors opened when they reached the basement and Vi got off, turning back to Caitlyn who gave her the key to her office.
"Go see Ramon, he'll take care of it. I need to speak with my superior, but I'll find you in the office after."
Vi nodded and headed off.
The elevator took Caitlyn back up, to the sixth floor, where Markham's pseudo-office was located. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, what Markham was going to say, but Caitlyn wouldn't wait for her mind to make up a plethora of scenarios when she could get the answer straight away.
Markham was standing by the window, hands clasped behind her back. Caitlyn stood in front of the desk, empty as the last time, and stood politely at attention.
"Agent Fitzwilliam," Markham started and turned to face Caitlyn, "I see you've returned."
Her eyes bore into Caitlyn's skull, her hair once more in a pristine ponytail, and she didn't even blink when she spoke, "How did the operation go?"
Caitlyn was almost certain her annoyance at the blatant side-stepping showed on her face.
"Are you saying you don't already know all about that?"
Agent Markham's cheek twitched slightly at the mild insubordination, but, Caitlyn thought secretly, she should have been used to it by now.
The Agent shrugged with one shoulder, "Humour me."
Caitlyn made a conscious effort to unclench her jaw and she succeeded in doing so, "We rescued all hostages with no additional losses and apprehended the criminal elements. According to our intel, none of the perpetrators made it out of the bank prematurely, so the only financial losses should be listed in the damage report."
Agent Markham regarded Caitlyn with narrowed eyes, when she finally motioned towards the visitor chairs, "Please, take a seat."
The two women sat down. Markham stapled her fingers atop the desk.
"The operation went well, I was already informed about that. I'm inquiring about Vi — how did she perform?"
Of course. She doesn't care at all about the actual operation or the people we saved.
"She did well," Caitlyn said, "She's obviously lacking the tactical training, but she makes up for it with quick thinking and decision-making."
Caitlyn's thoughts went back to when Vi had saved them from being shot dead by the patrol that had cornered them before the control room of the bank. Sure, she'd been incredibly angry at Vi for not alerting her sooner of the hostiles, but she couldn't deny that Vi's swift reaction to defend them with her power armour had been the only thing to keep them alive in that first instant.
The way she let her emotions take over however, would need to be addressed. But Caitlyn didn't mention that part. It was important that she got this debriefing right after all.
"She is able to operate her weapons to a satisfying degree, so I suggest she's allowed to continue using the gauntlets instead of a firearm."
Markham listened attentively to Caitlyn's brief report about Vi. She didn't nod nor shake her head throughout the whole exchange. However, Caitlyn noted the subdued spark in her eyes. She didn't know what to think about that.
"Sounds promising," Agent Markham eventually concluded.
She inclined her head, "I agree with your assessment regarding her choice of weaponry. Let her use the gauntlets if it keeps her happy. The tactical training is another good point, we should see to that."
Markham waved her hand at Caitlyn, "Since she's your charge, I assume you wish to take the practice into your own hands?"
Caitlyn couldn't nod quickly enough.
"Good. The theoretical aspects can be covered by viewing material and the like. But I'm positive that she'll adapt quickly. Anything else, Agent?"
Caitlyn gave a negative response to that question. Agent Markham however seemed not quite finished with her interrogation.
"Did she get injured? Any scratches or bruises she sustained?"
The question was a bit odd. Odd enough that Caitlyn frowned.
"Nothing, no."
"Very well. Have her check in with the physicians regardless. I want her examined and a few stress tests scheduled for the next few days."
"Understood."
With that, the Agent rose from her chair and Caitlyn followed her example.
"You've done good work today, Agent Fitzwilliam. Now go home and rest up, you've earned some shut-eye."
The dismissal was to the point, but Markham's tone had actually softened around the words. It caught Caitlyn off-guard. Nevertheless, the positive note on which the debrief ended left Caitlyn with a content feeling.
She smiled as she stepped on the elevator.
Yes, she thought, that was good work indeed.
[A/N:]
You did good, child. You did good. I'm proud of you.
[EDIT 2020-10-12]: Refined the ending of the chapter.