"it won't be the same without you"
Simon sat in the cafeteria of King's Dominion mindlessly pushing the food around his lunch tray. The rest of the Preps chatted excitedly, feeding into the drivel that Kendal fed them. The Londoner had returned from his impromptu trip with Lorraine Broughton to find King's is a different place than they left it.
The clique of teenagers that would one day follow in their parents' footsteps—joining various government agencies like the CIA or MI—had once looked to Simon to be their leader. But, in the time he was preoccupied with The Marcus Show, he seemed to have been replaced by the charismatic blond boy.
Simon tried not to let it bother him. He and Kendal weren't close but they had been friendly. Unfortunately, now that he was top dog amongst the Preps, he had become unbearable. Every snide comment and smug look annoyed him to no end. Not to mention the blond liked to take digs at Simon occasionally as if punishing him for straying into friendships outside their group.
The tall teen hunched over his tray, glancing at the empty table at the center of the cafeteria. The table that Andi usually claimed for herself. Seeing it empty day after day was beginning to gnaw at him, as he knew who belonged there and it felt wrong that she wasn't at the school with him.
But, he had failed to bring her back.
Lorraine and Simon pulled up in front of an imposing building. Its dark glass reflected the other surrounding structures of the boisterous city. Simon followed behind Lorraine wordlessly.
The blonde woman was confident in her strides. She strutted forward purposefully and swung open the door with ease. The lobby was darkly decorated, only the occasional gold accent there to brighten the space.
While Lorraine approached the woman at the front desk who was flanked by security on each side, he took a minute to inspect the golden serpent carved into the floor tiles. The symbol surprised him. He knew Ouroboros' symbol was a serpent eating its own tail. However, he didn't believe that such a secretive organization would advertise their calling card so blatantly.
"Hello, Ms. Broughton," the receptionist chirped cheerfully. "How can I—"
Lorraine didn't let her finish though. "I need to speak with Odin," she demanded, her voice stern and unwavering. She would not take 'no' for an answer.
"I-I call up and see if Mr. Brandt is free to meet with you," she stuttered out. Her voice faltered, the uneasiness stemming from Lorraine's intimidating presence. Despite the receptionist's newfound anxiety, she maintained a smile as she picked up the phone.
Lorraine was not satisfied with her answer though. The blonde woman's jaw ticked in irritation, her steely blue eyes stared vacantly at the receptionist as she made the call.
Simon shifted uncomfortably as he glanced at the security guards. They weren't your standard police academy dropouts and failures. No, they were definitely trained and deadly. Their eyes followed him and Lorraine attentively, never leaving them and tracking their every move.
The receptionist hung up her phone and looked back to the blonde woman, her fake smile still plastered on her face. "What luck, Mr. Brandt was expecting you."
One of the guards stood and walked from behind the desk to the elevator. Simon and Lorraine followed him and entered when the doors opened. Once inside, the guard placed his hand on the biometric scanner before hitting the button for the top floor.
The elevator ride was incredibly awkward for the brunet teen. Each of them—Lorraine, the guard, and himself—all stood with their backs to a wall, facing each other. Simon shifted his eyes back and forth between the guard's distrustful stare and the blonde's unamused expression.
The ride felt like it lasted an hour and the only one relaxed out of the trio seemed to be Lorraine.
The elevator stopped with a ding at the top floor and the three exited. The guard planted himself firmly beside the doors as they closed. Simon looked back at him as he followed Lorraine forward, the blonde not caring if the man was following them or not.
At the end of the hall, a scowling woman sat at the desk, typing away at her keyboard. She glanced up at Lorraine briefly with a bored expression. "He's just inside. You can go in," she drawled with a dismissive wave of her hand. Her eyes flitted to Simon for only a second before returning to her monitor.
Simon was baffled at how easily he and Lorraine were allowed in the building. But, easy wasn't always a good thing. This all felt way too good to be true. It set his nerves alight with anxiety.
Everyone in this building was dangerous. The guards were simply for show as the people they were 'protecting' were more deadly than they could even imagine. They made their living playing as puppet masters to the world. They weren't to be underestimated. Even the scowling secretary was probably capable of gutting someone with her letter opener without even batting an eye.
Lorraine hastily pushed through the double doors leading to Mr. Brandt's office.
"Hello, Lorraine," the German accent greeted cheerfully.
He gave the duo a closed-lip smile and held out his hand gesturing for them to sit. Simon glanced at Lorraine as if asking permission to but she didn't acknowledge him.
"Odin," she greeted stiffly, the tick in her jaw making a comeback. "Where is my daughter?"
Mr. Brandt, or Odin, as Lorraine insisted on calling him, sighed deeply. "Please sit, dear. We can get to business in a moment. I do have some good news for you."
Lorraine wouldn't let him get her off-topic though, "No. I am done with pleasantries. You've been targeting Andrea for years. Where is she?" Her already steely glare took on a new edge as Simon witnessed the exchange. If Lorraine could slice through Odin with merely a glance, this would be the one to do it.
The unassuming man seemed unperturbed though, his posture relaxed as he reclined in his chair. "Well, Ouroboros is always keeping its eyes open for new talent," he stated nonchalantly, his eyes shifting to Simon. "We are open to any new recruits." The statement was aimed at the Londoner.
Before Simon could refuse the thinly veiled offer, Lorraine approached the desk menacingly.
Suddenly, she softened, her shoulders drooping ever so slightly, the edge fading from her tone. "Odin, please. Do what you want to me, but release Andrea," she pleaded, uncharacteristically.
Odin examined the mother before him, his closed-lip smile expanding until it was a full grin. Then a bubble of laughter escaped him, "Oh, Lorraine... but that's the good news. You're free. You have nothing to trade for your daughter, but you don't need to trade anything! Andrea is quite the negotiator, you see. She was brought here, yes, but she is no hostage. Andrea and I came to an agreement."
He snatched the phone from his desk, dialing an extension swiftly. The room was silent, Lorraine appalled at his statement and Simon utterly confused. Odin's good mood didn't falter though, "Send her in please." It was the only thing he said before setting the phone back onto the receiver.
They all turned when the lock of the door clicked behind them and a familiar blonde walked in. "Andi," Simon sighed with relief, seeing his best friend alive and in one piece. Well, as far as he could tell.
She glanced at him briefly but offered no sign of joy or relief in seeing him there. Her rather indifferent gaze moved from him to her mother. "Mom," she greeted shortly, her tone void of emotion.
"Your mother is here to rescue you," Odin told her, a conspiratorial smile pulling at his lips. The way he said rescue like it was some kind of inside joke caused Simon to prickle in irritation. Why was this all a game to him? He was so tired of playing games. He just wanted to go back to King's with his best friend and act as if the last couple of months never happened.
Andi scoffed at Odin's words. "That's rich," she sneered at her mother. "Considering the only reason you no longer have a price on your head is thanks to me."
"What are you talking about?" Lorraine pushed.
The younger Broughton huffed. "I'm not a hostage here, mom. I'm an employee. I'm here of my own free will. Odin and I struck a deal on mutual grounds, a deal that we both will benefit from. One of my conditions was for you to be free, so you're welcome."
Lorraine let out a humorless laugh. "And what have you given up in return? Deals from the devil always sound sweet until it's time for him to collect," she said, her eyes flickering to Odin briefly before moving back to her daughter.
The so-called devil sat back watching the exchange with all the giddiness of a child on Christmas morning.
Simon interrupted the tense atmosphere. "What kind of deal did you make, Andi?"
The young blonde crossed her arms in front of her, closing herself off from her mother and best friend. "Nothing either of you needs to concern yourself with. I'm fine. So you can go," her biting words almost made Simon physically recoil.
He wasn't used to such harshness from her.
"Andrea, I'm not leaving this building without you," Lorraine interjected as if she could convince her daughter to change her mind. Andi didn't budge though.
"Well, I am not leaving this building with you, and only one of us is gonna be disappointed. I'll give you a hint. It's not me. This is my choice. Finally, I am the one making decisions and taking control of the situation. For years, I have gotten the shit end of the stick, being trapped in situations that warped me and twisted me into someone I never wanted to become. And all of it was due to choices you made that I had no part of. Not anymore. I'm done listening to you. I'm done waiting for you to finally care enough. So, why don't you leave...without me. It's what you're best at."
The scathing remarks cut deeply. The older Broughton was frozen in her place, no visible signs of her distress aside from that characteristic tick of her jaw. Like she was biting her tongue and holding back from poor excuses.
This was what her daughter truly thought of her.
Without another word, Lorraine left the room, her long strides soundless as she exited into the hallway.
That left only Odin, Andi, and a very uneasy Simon in the office.
Simon watched as the young blonde closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, the icy ire that she had unleashed on her mother was gone, replaced by indifference once again.
She took a step toward Simon, within arm's reach now. "I won't be gone forever," she said, her words almost comforting, but they were still detached. "I need time to process everything, but eventually I'll return to King's. I just don't know when."
He nodded.
Silence filled the space between them for a minute before Simon bit the bullet and pulled the blonde in for an excruciatingly delayed hug. They were never super touchy when showing affection for one another, but this time was an exception. Physical comfort was a necessity after everything.
"Not too long," Simon muttered under his breath as he felt her arms wrap around him with uncertainty. "It won't be the same without you."
And it wasn't.
To put it simply, King's Dominion sucked without Andrea Broughton.
Simon wished more than anything that she was there with him, raising hell. But she wasn't. He should've tried harder to get her to come back, but he knew she needed her space.
And the reason why just walked into the cafeteria.
Marcus Lopez Arguello.
If it hadn't been for the damned Rat then she would still be at King's, safe—well, as safe as she could be in a school for junior assassins. Marcus's eyes met his and Simon did not hide his feelings for the Arguello boy. His glare was like hellfire, burning through the room and causing Marcus to fidget in discomfort. It was a glare that put Superman's heat vision to shame, fueled by the anger he felt on behalf of Andi.
The blonde girl had told him she would return, but it had already been a month and the Londoner grew more anxious with each passing day. It was beginning to feel like she would never return to the school. Had she lied to him? She wasn't exactly friendly when they last spoke.
Simon tried to address his concerns with Master Lin, but the older man seemed suspiciously unperturbed by one of his star student's absence. The Aster boy could only assume that the Guild and Ouroboros had been in contact after their group's return from Vegas.
After Marcus diverted his eyes away from him, Simon's eyes caught Saya with the rest of the Kuroki Syndicate. She had been the only one that Simon remained close to after the events in Vegas. He and Willie spoke occasionally, but they had never been close to begin with.
Simon was obviously pissed at Marcus and Maria for how they screwed over Andi, and with Billy being Marcus's friend, Simon had no want to associate himself further with the Rat. Sure, he had been a little upset about Maria not feeling the same way about him as he did about her, but he wasn't going to be a little bitch about it. But, Andi was Maria's friend. She had helped the Latina through a lot, and Maria was a bad friend in return.
Saya and Simon would meet up occasionally in the Graveyard, catching up and talking but nothing was the same. There was an Andi-sized hole that couldn't be patched up.
Andi stood in the training room, hitting the suspended sandbag over and over, her knuckles wrapped with off-white tape. Rock music blared through the speakers of the sound system, loud enough to drown out her sporadic thoughts.
She had often found herself in the training room during any of her free time. But, in the last week, she frequented it even more. Tomorrow she would be on a private plane back to San Francisco and rejoin her old peers at King's Dominion. Only she would also be bringing along four other prominent Ouroboros recruits with her.
In preparation for the trip, she had been introduced to each of them. She rather enjoyed their company, which she found very surprising.
Mateo Formosa, the bastard son of a consigliere for some Italian crime family that Andi forgot the name of, was the first one she met. Falcons, maybe... He was quiet, preferring to keep to himself and observe. From those observations, he knew how people ticked, how to leverage information from them and get them to do what he desired. He was distrusting by nature, something the Broughton girl could respect as she was too. He also preferred to use his fists to other weapons, and his brute force was effective.
Then, there was Yelena Ruiz. She was as close to a legacy as you could get around Ouroboros. Her great aunt went by the code name Quetzalcoatl—an Aztec god—and was the small intimidating woman Andi met when she first arrived at Odin's office with Abaddon. Yelena was snarky and low-key a genius. Upon their first meeting, Andi couldn't help but compare her to Petra, although the two girls' aesthetics were very different.
Next was Diana Xiang, a loner that Ouroboros had taken in and trained. She initially wanted nothing to do with their little King's Dominion exchange student program. But when her girlfriend, Zara, was eager to break out of the careful watch of the New York headquarters, Diana begrudgingly followed. Apparently, she was like the mom of the small group, always there to patch them up after a rough training session or mission. However, as capable as she was when it came to saving their asses; she was equally as capable of ending their lives.
Lastly, there was the aforementioned Zara Mendelson. The peppy redhead seemed vastly out of place among the rest of the deadly personnel that traversed the New York building, and over time, it seemed to have weighed on her. Initially, she came to Ouroboros as an heiress to a wealthy Swiss banker. Her father had many shady business dealings and made a deal with Odin to obtain protection. Zara had been the bargaining chip, as Odin had seen potential in her. He had been right, of course, as despite her cheerful demeanor she was a snake just like the rest of them.
Andi's workout was interrupted by a familiar and unwelcome voice. "Well, if it isn't the prodigal daughter in the flesh." The blonde didn't even turn to look at Abaddon. His tone was typically teasing, although recently it seemed to have taken on a hint of jealousy. Maybe he knew how out of favor he had fallen.
The thought caused the corner of the blonde's mouth the curl up in the ghost of a smirk. She enjoyed taking things from him after all he'd taken from her.
Still, she didn't answer, only encouraging him to keep talking. "Aww, are you really ignoring me right now? How very mature..."
She could hear his footsteps growing closer as she continued to strike the punching bag. Still, she refused to give in to his taunts.
He was right behind her now as he reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder. She grabbed his palm just as his fingertips brushed against her t-shirt. She twisted his wrist painfully, her fingers digging into a pressure point.
Caught off guard, Abaddon dropped to his knees, his face twisting in agony as the blonde continued to hold his arm at an awkward angle. "I'm sorry," the Broughton girl cooed, turning to face him with a false pout pulling at her bottom lip. Her now shoulder-length blonde locks hung down as she crouched slightly toward him. "Were you speaking to me? I couldn't hear you with all the music."
Abaddon scowled at her lie and yanked his hand out of her grip before standing.
"What did you need?" she asked him, her false innocence still present.
He smiled back at her, his signature, crazed grin. This was the game that they played. Always with the false pretenses, pretending that she didn't hate him and that he didn't envy her even though they both knew the truth. They were experts at putting on facades, and both wanted nothing more than to see the other break and give way to their true feelings. Sometimes Andi found it exhausting, but mostly when she could see the cracks in his facade form, it made her feel powerful.
"I just wanted to say goodbye and wish you well on your trip back to King's tomorrow," he answered. "I'll miss you."
Meaning, 'I'll be glad when you're gone,' she thought.
"Oh, it won't be the same without you. But, don't worry. You won't have to miss me," she said with a smile. "I'll always be with you right here." She jabbed him in the chest right over his heart. His jaw clenched as he tried not to wince.
Because just under his shirt was a fresh wound from their last supervised sparring session. A swollen, red 'A' carved into his skin, a perfect twin to the one on her thigh.
It had been about three days since she'd given him the matching reminder, the first real sign of balance in their power struggle. But, Andi wasn't looking for balance. She was looking to be superior—to have control.
And she would.
After all this time, I finally posted the first chapter of Part 2. This is the segway chapter into the second half of Season 1, picking up in episode 6.
Sorry about my hectic start for this part of the story. I had some weird scheduling conflicts and just poor time management on my part. But, starting next week, this story should be updated every Thursday. The rest of Part 2 will cover the rest of Season 1 and then Part 3 will be half original/half following the graphic novels to wrap up the story.
Hope you all enjoyed this! I'm excited about the introduction of the new characters! They will be supporting characters for now but in Part 3, they will be instrumental for Andi's storyline. Also, each of them shares a similarity to someone she knew at King's, who do you think they are?
Please let me know what you thought!