- Loss -
When she regained consciousness, three days after Endgame, Amy found herself lying in a hospital bed. The first word to enter her mind was "Lucy", but she choked, since a long feeding tube inserted down her throat was preventing the name from being vocalized.
She remembered everything, although she had so hoped with disregarded futility that it was simply a passing nightmare. Her friends came and greeted her with joy and relief that she finally woke, but there was only one question Amy wanted to ask.
With sincere difficulty, her fellow DEBS squad members revealed to her that Lucy Diamond was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital from internal bleeding. Nothing else they said after that even registered with Amy, as all she could do was sob in excruciating grief on the hospital bed. After many hours, the group eventually gave up trying to console her, and decided to let her cry herself out.
Amy eventually did stop crying. After how long no one really knows. But after the tears ran dry all she would do is to stare at the wall.
It was another two days before Amy finally rose from her bed. She was weak because she had refused to eat, but she managed to put on the clothes Janet had brought for her, and checked herself out of the hospital without informing anyone else.
The events of the next few months seemed to have gone by in a blur. A few days after she left the hospital, she submitted her formal resignation from the DEBS organization, ignoring her squad's incessant protests. After that, she seems to have completely disappeared. Even with the DEBS resources, they could not specifically locate the Amy Bradshaw that was once the DEBS poster-child. The once-revered "Perfect Score" now dropped off the face of the Earth, but this was only temporary.
What the DEBS didn't know at the time was that Amy re-acquainted herself with Scud, the late Lucy Diamond's right hand man. Scud himself went into a pit of depression after he heard word of Lucy's death. Lucy's once powerful criminal syndicate went into a state of complete disarray without Lucy's leadership and Scud's supervision.
However, once Amy took over the reins, it's unlikely that even Scud could have fathomed the untapped potential that was within the "Perfect Score." When Mr. Phipps, the DEBS mission coordinator, indicated to Amy that by being the Perfect Score, she is the ultimate liar, Amy finally truly understood the weight of those words when she decided to take up where Lucy left off.
With Scud's help, Amy reassembled the team of men and women who made up the workforce of the organization, as well as reconnecting with most of Lucy's old contacts. And to ensure there were no question as to her intent and abilities to the rest of the criminal underground, she organized a heist that resulted in the Chancellor of Bulgaria being 15 million euros poorer and Amy-Lucy's organization (as it was now nicknamed internally) suddenly finding themselves richer by the same amount.
It didn't take long before the DEBS took notice of the new force in criminal activity. They discovered that this group exclusively victimizes persons with certain political influence and power within their respective countries. It took considerable more work and many weeks before the DEBS finally discovered the name of the group responsible, and the new face at the helm.
It is not surprising that the DEBS reacted with considerable shock and disbelief when they discovered the new character behind these frauds is none other than Amy Bradshaw. Their former star prodigy is now believed to be responsible for the theft of a combined amount of 75 million dollars US all over the world, so far from what is known, in only 3 months.
As if Ms. Petrie, the head of DEBS, needed more embarrassment amongst the intelligence community, the pressure to bring those responsible to justice increased tremendously when confidential word came that the White House Chief of Staff Bill Page had just been defrauded of 8 million dollars from his personal accounts. Preliminary investigations into the theft indicated tactics mirrored those of the other reported international thefts from political players. Now, Ms. Petrie has the White House Administration breathing down her back to have Amy Bradshaw caught.
However, this was much easier ordered than done, as it was they themselves who gave Amy Bradshaw the education that taught her all the ins and outs of the trade, and would ultimately allow her to avoid any possible capture by the authorities. Their school tried to teach the skills to make a great spy, ironically, they never considered it could also make a great criminal, and Amy Bradshaw was an extremely good student.
As Ms. Petrie reviews the Agency file on Amy Bradshaw, the continuous string of "A's" reflect back at her bifocals, as though each of them was laughing at her in ridicule and mockery.
- Darkness in the Evil Lair -
The stillness of night permeates the walls of the entire room. Faint light and shadows dominate like guardian sculptures strategically placed through the floor and walls. The sporadic sounds of crickets outside the windows are the only blemish to what is otherwise an endless sea of silence. Amy sits lazily on her executive style chair, her long blond hair draped freely over the leather surface. She looks with feigned interest at the 3-dimensional display hovering over her desk. Scans of official documents, financial statements, and wire transfer records flash through the array of colors. Since she has already seen enough for the night, she clicks a button on the keyboard and the entire laser show quickly faints to thin air.
It was then that she looks through the window at the far wall and notices the partially lit moon in the sky, currently the only source of illumination left in the room. The moon always seems to have special meaning for her. Its white surface is like a small mirror, shining only a fraction of the radiance projected by the invisible sun.
Amy gets up from the chair, and as she has done countless times in the past few months, walks over to the sofa near the window, and sits down on the floor. Her gaze never leaves the view of the moon. It's as though she is afraid that if she turned away, it will be gone when she turns back. She continues to stare at it until she can almost believe that the light projected on the cratered surface has morphed into a pink heart. The words, "Amy be mine" seems to be ever so slowly coming into view.
Amy could, and have many times previously, kept staring at it until her mind sinks into a version of sleep that might possibly get her rest. So many times she'd find herself awake on that sofa that she seems to have barely used the King sized bed on the other corner of the room. Tonight however, her trance is broken by the restrained knocking sound coming from the door.
"Amy? Are you still awake?"
Slightly startled at the interruption, she blinks herself back to the here and now. Gathering her composure, she allows herself a long sigh, and reaches for the remote on the coffee table in front of her, and presses a button to allow Scud to enter.
Several metallic clangs ring off in solid succession as the steel-reinforced door releases its locks and allows a tentative-looking Scud to step into the room.
Scud quickly notices the darkness. Embarrassingly, he stumbles out an apology. "Oh I'm sorry, Amy. I didn't think you'd be asleep yet."
"I'm not." Amy replies plainly.
It was confusing at first, since he expected Amy to be in bed due to the darkness of the room. But he was even more surprised to see the voice came from a figure sitting on the floor, back against the front of the sofa, face looking out the window.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Got a few moments?" Scud asks casually.
"I guess so." Her voice was so low he could barely hear it.
Scud tries to lighten the tone. "Firstly Amy, congratulations on the awesome take yesterday."
Amy's face showed no indication of gratification or delight. There was a delay before she finally answered faintly, "...Thanks."
"And I mean, totally! I wish I can see the look on the face of that Consulate jackass when he discovers he's got nothing left in his bank book!" Scud trails off in a giggle hoping Amy will follow suit.
But Amy continued to sit there, staring out the window, blank and emotionless.
The artificial smile plastered on Scud's face begins to give way. Realizing that the mood is going to stay melancholy no matter what he does, he sighs, and walks over to where Amy was sitting and sits down beside her.
Scud lets the silence linger a bit before he finally speaks. His tone now turned serious and subdued. "No matter how much we steal, we are not going to get her back, Amy."
"I know that."
"Then why do you do this if this makes you so damn miserable?"
"Because I'm good at it."
"That's not a reason."
"Sure it is."
"Why?"
"Because the test said so."
Scud knew Amy doesn't truly believe in what the test ever said about her, but tries a different approach. "Lucy gave all of this up for you. Do you really think she would want you to continue where she left off?"
"Lucy would have wanted to not be dead."
"That's besides the point."
"What is the point, then?"
"...My point is ...you've changed, Amy. You were this fragile, naïve thing when I first met you. You wouldn't harm a fly. Now you do these jobs and take just about everything the guy has except the shirt on their backs. Lucy had taken a lot in her time but she was never this... relentless."
"You've seen their financial records. They deserved it."
"Yes, they did, but..." Scud could only let the word trail off. In all the years he's done this with Lucy, there was always the unmistakable element of fun in every lawfully-challenged operation they did. That fun was no longer there with Amy. Everything was so structured, so procedural, so well controlled. This has truly become work. The fact they were so thorough in each of the thefts that it left most of their victims broke and weeping didn't add too much to the enjoyment either.
"I've changed?" Amy asks in a slightly sarcastic manner. Scud could only sit quietly.
Amy continues, "...Everything changed that day, Scud."
There was no argument against that, certainly. Scud's own life turned upside down after Lucy's death. He blamed himself for the horrible plan that got Lucy in harm's way. For months, his continued his self-loathing. He also eventually lost contact with Janet, the sweater-obsessed DEBS agent who used to communicate with him on a nightly basis. It wasn't until a timely call from Amy Bradshaw that pulled him out of the doldrums that allowed him to concentrate on something other than what he could have done different that day.
"...But some things don't change. They told me I am the ultimate liar, and that was true. I lied to myself and everybody else for as long as I know. Lucy was the only one who ever saw me through the lies. If only I had stopped lying before that day, she'd be with me. If I didn't try so fucking hard to please everyone, we'd be in Barcelona now, sipping coolers, watching the sunset with her arms around me. But I was a coward, and I had to watch her die."
"She loved you, more than anyone or anything. She would only want you to be happy. ...And I hate to see you like this too."
Amy straightens her back, and restored a bit of the fixed determination back on her face. "If you want to make me happy, you know what to need to do."
Scud twists uncomfortably in his position. Even though he knew he had something Amy wanted to hear, he had major apprehensions. He had hoped if he doesn't say anything she wouldn't talk about it again. But he knew, that was an unreasonable hope.
Scud drops his face so that he seems to be looking at his feet. "We found him."
Amy's face immediately perked over at him. Her eyes were clear and sharp, and her mouth was seething with contempt. "Good. Pick him up."
Scud sighs. "But are you really sure about this? Amy, this could get you into some real trouble."
"It doesn't matter. Get him."
Amy's tone was so assertive that Scud knew he couldn't change her mind with any rational argument. He knew there was always a line in this job he wouldn't cross. But now, he will cross it. A part of him wanted this to happen, but there's always that irritating little nag in the back of his brain telling him not to. A conscience can be quite bothersome sometimes.
"...Alright." Scud sighs warily as he gets up, and begins to walk out of the room. He stops himself right before he leaves, hesitating.
"If it was Lucy grieving for you instead of the other way around, would you want her to do this?"
There was no response coming from the room. Scud didn't really expect one, and he left. The door closed with an abrupt clunk and the usual metallic thumps of the securing bolts.
Amy returns her fixation back to the sky. She tries to maintain her determined face but suddenly, her emotions spill over. Her face falls and she clasps her hand to her mouth as her eyes clench with tears. Her body quivers as she chokes on her own sorrow. She gasps for breath as she pries her eyes open. Her tears collect into a scattered pool on the floor, and with it, her partial moonlit reflection stares back at her. Her sadness deepens as she realizes she might have lost herself. She wonders, if Lucy was alive and she seeing what she is now, or after what she's about to do, whether Lucy would continue to love her...
-to be continued-