A/N Thank you for reading! I hope you continue to enjoy. Very much in the end game now. :)
"Yes sir?"
"By this afternoon, Eve will no longer be running the mission, which makes it time to initiate plan B, Keres," Quinton, AKA Eight, commanded. "The mission must fail,"
"Understood, sir,"
"Under no circumstances can anyone know about this,"
"Understood,"
Eve sat quietly by herself in the dining area, leaning back in her chair, eyes closed, arms crossed, and contemplating the ramifications of what the council had done so far and what they had yet to do. She had to make some decisions. As the new number one, she was responsible for much more than before, and with two seats now open, she was getting the feeling that there were, in reality, more people against her than with her. She needed to turn the tables back in her favor or risk ending up dead. There were few people she could nominate to join the council though, that she could imagine being approved by the others as well. Her only real option at the moment was Konstantin and he was hardly council member material. At the same time, their representative from Russia was no longer with them, and Konstantin could easily be his replacement. As for the other seat, she didn't know. She could nominate one of the keepers to join the council but most of them she was weary of. More often than not, the keepers just got in her way and so she avoided needing to deal with them whenever possible. There was one in particular that she was more keen on though, and that was Helene. She was fairly young, smart, and very good at her job. Eve knew Helene was working with an asset in London so it wouldn't be difficult to orchestrate her attendance at the council meeting in coincidentally the same city that day.
Several footsteps on the hard cement flood brought her out of her thoughts and she turned to look, seeing Laura, Xenon, and Konstantin walk in.
"Good morning," Eve said dully. Laura and Xenon both nodded in acknowledgment but said nothing.
"Good morning to you too," Konstantin responded as he pulled up a chair next to Eve.
"Where's Keres?" Eve glanced between them, as Laura and Xenon too came to sit down near them.
"Getting ready still I guess," Laura shrugged.
Eve sighed. "Will one of you go make sure she's awake at least? Xenon, go," She commanded and he did as he was told. She waited until the young man was out of earshot before she spoke again. "I hope it doesn't take you long to pack, Konstantin, because you and I have a meeting to attend this evening,"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean?"
She lowered her voice. "I'm nominating you to be on the council,"
"The council? The actual council of the Twelve?" He asked incredulously.
"Why him?!" Laura grumbled.
"Because I need someone on my side. The way it sits now the council is weighted against me," Eve explained. "Plus there are two open seats, I need to nominate people to fill them,"
"And you can do that? Is that within your powers?" Laura asked curiously.
"As number one, it is my responsibility, yes," Eve confirmed quietly.
Laura just looked at her trying to make sense of what she said.
Konstantin sat wordlessly next to them until Eve looked at him again. "Well?"
"Who is the other person?" Konstantin managed to ask.
"Helene,"
Laura folded her arms upsettedly and Konstantin laughed humorlessly. "You've got to be joking,"
Eve rolled her eyes. "No. I am not joking. Helene is the next best person,"
"Bullshit," Laura scoffed.
"Laura, seriously? Cut it out. I need you to focus," Eve scolded. "You still have a job here. They are making me reassign this mission to someone else, but you will still report back to me. I have information suggesting there will be some interference in an attempt to derail the mission. You cannot let that happen. Just as before, I want reports of any activity by the others that could even remotely be construed as sabotage,"
Laura nodded.
"Good, we are leaving in an hour or so," Eve continued, looking at Konstantin who nodded as well.
"You're leaving again?" They heard Keres say from down the hall as she and Xenon walked toward them.
Eve gazed up at her. "Yes. I have more things to attend to. Fret not, you will be so busy running drills you won't even notice,"
"Great," The assassin rolled her eyes.
"I will not be returning, but you will be given your assignments the day before your mission so you can complete your preparations," Eve stood to be toe to toe with the other woman. "Good luck. There is no margin for error, and I expect this to be carried out with utmost precision and professionalism. Do not fail or so help me, there will be no safe place on this earth for you to hide,"
With that threat, Eve glanced across all of their faces then walked out of the room, and Konstantin followed close behind her.
Eve and Konstantin were met by Helene at the airport when they arrived in London. They collectively made their way to the council meeting and Eve explained the situation briefly to them on their way.
"Wait here," Eve instructed to the others after they got patted down by security inside the meeting building. Eve walked down the hallway and pushed open the doors to the conference room.
Glancing across the room, the rest of them were there seated around a large table. All of them stood and clapped at the sight of her. She was a little taken aback by the action, but she maintained her confidence and strode further into the room.
"Welcome Number One," Eight said warmly.
"Hello, all of you," Eve greeted curtly as she came to stand at the head of the table. "Let's get down to business shall we?" She wasted no time waiting for them to respond before she continued and handed out copies of the personnel files she had on Helene and Konstantin. "Here's how things are going to go. We have two open seats, I took the liberty of selecting the two best candidates to step up, if you'll look over the documents, I'm sure you'll agree. They are both waiting outside as we speak,"
"Hold on a moment, you didn't consult the council on this beforehand?!" Four questioned sounding more than a little distressed.
"No. I did not. Nor did I need to. This council has taken it upon itself to carry out actions and hold votes without all members accounted for, and as the new acting number One, I am letting you know now that that is not going to work. Not anymore," Eve snapped.
"Konstantin isn't even a keeper, how can we be sure we can trust him?!" Eight asked as he pawed over the documents.
"If I didn't trust him, he wouldn't be here. He has a good track record with the organization either way," Eve defended.
"Yes, I see he was Villanelle's handler for quite some time," Seven pointed out.
"If you'll look closer, he was the one who recruited her. The best assassin we've ever had was hand-selected and trained because of him. If that does not make him worthy of a promotion, I don't know what does," Eve explained. "Helene, on the other hand, has also done excellent work for us. She has been a keeper for several years now and has proved herself to very valuable,"
"Helene I understand, but Konstantin I still don't think I can get behind," Eleven stated.
"Here's the deal. It has been a very long time since we have had to bring new people in. I can vouch for their characters, but if that is not enough, perhaps we should have them be supervised by one of our more seasoned members until we deem them fit, then? Shall we vote on it?"
Several of the others nodded. "All in favor of appointing Konstantin and Helene to the council?" Looking around the room, all members raised their hands. "Good," Eve strode over to the door and beckoned Konstantin and Helene in.
Turning back to the room with the other two coming to stand behind her, she glared at Four. Eve nodded to Helene and Konstantin to sit down at the other end of the table before she sat down at the head of the table. "Helene Eleven and Konstantin Twelve,"
Leaning forward in her chair, she scanned her eyes across the faces of the other council members. "Right so there are several other things we need to address. Who is going to take my place overseeing the mission and the overall order of things will need to be discussed," Eve paused. "Does anyone else have anything else to add before we get started?"
"I'd like to take a moment to say how happy I am, excuse me, I mean how happy we all are that you are still alive, it must have been so horrible being in that plane crash," Four spoke up. "Eight informed us that several of the assets didn't make it, including that feisty one we met, Villanelle, such a shame,"
Eve shared a glance with Konstantin and she willed herself not to make any form of expression despite the raw anger and sadness she still felt. "Yes, it is unfortunate," She cast a glare across the table at Eight who shrugged innocently. "Either way, the assets that remain are more than capable of handling the mission,"
"You have been the one who managed them for the past several years now, who do you feel is best suited to take over?" Seven asked.
"It doesn't take much, there is barely any contact with them. This mission is different. In all honesty, we are so close to it, I might as well finish overseeing it, and hand asset management over to one of you afterward," Four, Five, and Nine nodded, while the others seemed uncertain, and specifically, Eight looked particularly annoyed. Eve knew she was going to give the mission over to Konstantin or Helene, but putting this alternative idea out there gave her a glimpse into who was with her and who wasn't.
"As close as it is, do you not trust any one of us to take over for you? If you had died in that crash, one of us would have picked up where you left off," Old Eleven jumped into the conversation.
"Of course I do. How dare you question my faith in the council?!" Eve hissed. "It was merely a suggestion. I think any one of you could do it," She looked around the room and when no one immediately volunteered, she continued. "Konstantin, how about you?"
"Folks, shouldn't we ask ourselves if we even still want to do it?" Six piped up.
"Again? Seriously?! Stop second-guessing all of the decisions we have already made," Four growled in his thick Italian accent.
"Stop it, all of you," Eve commanded. "We already voted, the plan is set in motion, taking care of the fallout is our next step, and all we have to worry about now,"
"I can do it," Konstantin said confidently, just as Eve had instructed him to do on their way there.
"We cannot trust a newcomer to this task! It is too great!" Old Twelve spoke up.
"If I didn't trust them, they wouldn't be here, you idiot," Eve rolled her eyes. "What do the rest of you think? Yes?"
"Ten, why don't you assist, given the importance of this mission," Eight argued.
Before Ten could speak, Eve interjected. "Just because it is his first mission as part of the council does not mean he has not carried out successful missions for the organization in the past. This is no different. It is pretty much all taken care of anyway. He has had a good record with working with our assets in the past," She argued a little too much, she realized, given the expressions she was getting from around the table. "But sure, Ten? You want to assist, go ahead. Do we need to vote on it?"
"No need. I think we are all in agreement," Eight continued, getting nods of agreement from most of the table. The rest looked to Eve who sighed.
"Good. Then Ten and new Twelve now have this mission," Eve said. "That brings us to the issue of renumbering. I don't want it to be complicated, everyone is going to just shift down two numbers. As I said, Helene and Konstantin are automatically new Eleven and new Twelve for now. Four, you're my new number two," She stood abruptly from the table. "Glad that's all settled. Now if you'll excuse me,"
"Hold on, is that it?" Four asked.
Eve turned on her heels. "What else do we need to discuss? The mission is in their capable hands," She waved flippantly at Ten and Konstantin. "...We have replacements for the seats, and we established the reordering of people or lack thereof,"
"What about after the mission is complete, should we not discuss it?" New Four pointed out.
Eve sighed. "Fine. That also reminds me, as if it needs to be said, no one is to be within two countries of the mission," Everyone nodded in agreement. "As for what happens afterward, well, the American people have a vice president, who is a little more sane, who will take over, plus they have an election soon, but that is another discussion that we may have to revisit. Our influence in England will allow us to position a like-minded candidate into power, and Russia, that is its own story isn't it? The president has ruled for far too long and is not helping the global situation. We may have to intervene if someone more respectable isn't elected there, but that is about it,"
"And you don't think the American people will want to go to war with someone over this? They are in a rather dark place over there across the pond," Five asked.
"Fight who? Our assets are invisible, our organization is invisible, who are they going to blame?" She asked rhetorically as she leaned on her chair. "Switzerland? Their other allies whose leaders were also killed? I don't think so. Terrorists are what they will think, as they tend to do. So are we done here?"
Everyone nodded and she made her exit once again. There were two days left before the mission. She wanted to go relax in her cabin, but this wasn't finished yet. Instead of directing her plane to Norway, she directed the pilot to fly her to Geneva. Her instructions were clear, that no one was to be at the event for safety reasons, and that was true, any one of them being there was a major security risk to the organization, but she needed to go. She had to make sure the mission was carried out and that nothing got in the way.
Villanelle had sat comfortably looking out the window of the train watching the landscape pass by. It was a very reminiscent feeling of when she had first met Eve and they took the train ride to London together. Headed for Geneva from Barcelona, the ride was close to ten hours. She had more than enough entertainment though, as she listened in on the Twelve's council meeting. Nothing new or exciting happened in her opinion, barring the appointment of Helene and Konstantin to the council that was. She hadn't expected that, but at the same time, she knew Eve was short on people she could trust.
When she wasn't listening in on her old boss, she was mentally planning what she would do when she saw Eve again. She wasn't sure when she would see her again, but as soon as she heard the conversation between Eve and her pilot, she knew it would be sooner than she thought, which wasn't a bad thing at all.
A/N Thanks for reading!
