Modern Day
Bern, Switzerland
I had to give Bene credit, it was a beautiful sight to see.
We flew out of Paris in our private jet and right in the Bern Airport, all thanks to Copley. We got our passports, as promised, in a package right when we made it to the terminal which had all we needed. I was impressed with him, even when I barely met him and practically gave him the stink eye when he was interrogating me in our first meeting. He had everything precise for us, including out alias names and occupations on the passports.
Our weapons we brought with us instantly went on the plan and not through TSA or security, which was also surprising. This was the first time I ever had this kind of mission with the group at this time since the last time I was in a group mission was back in the 1940s. The dynamic with our group almost felt the same as it did before, but with Nile now in the mix, it was even better. We made it to the private jet awaking us on the tarmac and we were off. it would take us a few hours until we would touch down and then take a train into the heart of Bern.
Once we walked into the jet that was provided for us, I was a bit taken back from how posh it looked. A comfortable couch along the side, luxurious seats and drinks were ready for us. I could hear Joe chuckling as we were walking into the jet, the engines were warming up as he looked over at me with a smirk.
"Second time I've ever ridden in one of these," He commented as he placed his backpack on the couch before he fell onto the couch with ease, grinning up at me, "And the first time, Nicky and I were covered in blood and heading to the lab at Merricks,"
Nicky grinned as he walked over to one of the seats, leaning back a bit as he cocked his eyebrow at Joe, "Remember that they had champagne?"
"How nice of them," Joe said in a chuckle, "And a TV,"
"So does this one," Nile said nonchalantly, sitting on one side of the couch near Joe as the small tv poppyseeds up from the back of the couch, "He did good,"
"Must be making up for something," I said in a low comment, though the others were grinning. The ending was getting a bit louder as Andy was placing her things in the back near the bathroom, reclining in her seat a bit. I watched her silently, the others were getting ready in their chairs as I saw Andy looking a bit uneasy about what was lying ahead. Then she finally looked at me, having me smile at her, and it took her a while before she smiled back. This was a whole new ball game for Andy, given that if she got an injury in this fight, it could be fatal for her and it could end her life sooner than we would want. But the heaviness and that weight were felt by all of us, not just Andy.
I walked over to sit down next to her, getting the sea belt on over my hips as she eyed me.
"Since when do you need a seat belt?" She asked almost in amusement, having me pause and smirk at her as I pointed to her seatbelt.
"Since you need one now," I reminded her, seeing her reluctantly and almost in a grudging manner put on her seatbelt. I chuckled and leaned back a bit more as the door slammed shut and we were locked in, "Don't worry about it too much, boss. We'll be in and out of this tube before you know it,"
Andy nodded agreement as she was closing her eyes, trying to get ready to go to sleep, "I hate planes,"
"Woe is me," Nile said in an amused tone as we felt the jet rolling on the tarmac and heading over to the runway. Andy gave her one more glare, though it wasn't mean. I had to grin, even in a tense time like this I knew it was going to be fine with the fours of them with me.
Once we were in the sky, I pulled out some more of the papers that were in our files, wondering what else Copley gave us. He also provided some more information about the group itself, giving us some of the files that were taken by the police on a few of these members including the head leader of the group. We might be out for the relative of the doctor, but the main leader who was much more valuable, not to mention dangerous.
This guy had a massive rap sheet, he was the leader of this group for about 10 years and counting. His crimes included the minimum of theft and robbery to massive as assault or hate crimes. His code-name amongst the younger members was The Wolf. His real name was Jonas Köhler, but he was known as The Wolf all around in his field. The police have attempted to arrest him and keep him in prison for good, but he would always find a way back onto the streets again.
His own mugshot was impressive enough to have me think that he was a wolf: an angular face that was smug and light hair along the top. His eyes were dark, indeed soul-less, almost making me think of him as some kind of sociopath. But I stayed quiet as I was looking at his face, already having an uneasy feeling about him.
He might be my biggest obstacle in all of this.
I looked away from the papers in my lap and looking out the window, seeing the cascades of clouds going by us. This was the calm before the storm, just like how it was in the past. I was going to get my head in the game, in the mission, so I still had some time to mentally prepare. The Wolf could be worse for me, and if he had any incline who I was, the target on my back would get a bit bigger before I realized it. So, I reluctantly closed the papers back into the manila folder that was given to me, placing it in my lap and just watching the clouds going by.
Not knowing that Nicky was watching me carefully from his spot next to Joe.
Once we stepped off the jet at the Bern Airport, we grabbed all of our baggage and were heading to the train, which then took us into the heart of Bern. I was watching the rolling green trees and small cottages that then morphed into the town itself. Once we were off the train, we got a taxi to take us over the bridge into the Old Town district of Bern.
The massive river that curved along the town was a sight to see. It reminded me of England, seeing the Tudor houses and cobbled streets and people riding bikes. Decorations for the upcoming festival were all over the town, hanging in the windows and over the streets in bright colors. We learned that it was the Bern Carnival. Props were already set up along the main streets and plazas
It was a beautiful place, and I wished we would have come here under different circumstances. But we found the hotel we were staying in: Hotel Schweizerhof. Once again, Copley coming in at the clutch to get us a third bedroom suite at a 5-star hotel in the heart of Bern. The hours leading up to when we were going to go along with the plan seemed longer than usual, but I felt that before with them. That anticipation of what was going to come, what could go wrong, and what the end goal will eventually be.
I slept that night with uneasiness, having a king-sized bed all to myself and looking out at the old town that had lights sprinkled about along the skyline. Although it was peaceful, I wasn't feeling it. It made me think if I was making the right choice, or I was going to make all worse for everyone involved. Maybe I did have too big of a heart, or I was driven by something else that made me the way I was. It was complex for me in my own head. I didn't want to think that I would lead the others in danger, not that they couldn't handle it, but it made me feel a bit terrible. My mind could only go from one bad place to another one within a second. Finally, sleep took over for me and I was dreaming again.
Once again, of the man named Jackson.
It felt like the more I was dreaming about it, the more I was learning about him at the same time. It surprised me that I was still having this sensation when I was dreaming about him, when I haven't even heard his voice or even seen him beyond his face and eyes. But of course now, in this dream, he was alone somewhere in a bedroom, in a place that seemed far away.
He looked lonely, almost lost in his own had as he was staring out of the window. The tint of the moon catching on his face and making his eyes look even brighter than they were naturally in the sun. For whatever reason, I felt like I wanted to reach out to him and almost hold his hand, to somehow take away that loneliness he was feeling. But it made so sense to me, to a mere stranger that I was seeing over and over again and almost feeling some kind of connection with him. I didn't need any of this, but then again…I didn't mind it at this point.
I felt myself being pulled in a direction towards someone I never met yet.
We all met in the alleyway three blocks over from our target building, a multi-story building that was near the south side of Ben. That meant that we were going to cut right through the festival that was currently happening along the main streets, weaving through all of the town. This was going to be the good enough cover that we needed to go through with the plan.
"We're going to assume that when we go along with the plan," Andy explained as we were right behind one of the main buildings along the street, hidden from the parade that was going by us. She held out a small blueprint of the building on another burner phone that we used, pointing to one fo the eery ways on the ground floor, "This will be the one good spot to go through. But we'll only have one time to get inside, do we need to be quick and careful."
"His office is on the third floor, that's where we need to end up," I added.
"As soon as you are inside the building, we need to make sure we get this down fast and as clean as we can, and if we find anything else in there that we can use against them and take to Copley," Andy explained to me, having me nod at him as I could tell this was about to get beyond serious and critical, "Once you're inside, try to get a good view of whatever is inside and what we might be encountering when we get there. Nile will bring your equipment with her when we meet up,"
"Yeah," I said in a breath, almost a bit too quick. The others now watching me and seeing that I sounded a bit rushed about it. Andy raised an eyebrow at me.
"You good?" She asked me, not convinced that I was going to be fine in this. At that moment, I thought of what happened all that time ago, how I was left alone, and that made me vulnerable. I was thinking of the pain that was inflicted on me for the sake of protecting the location of the others. I was thinking of The Wolf, a small sense of fear from just one simple picture that had me think that he could be the embodiment of evil.
But then, I thought of Jackson, and how his face eased me.
"I'll be fine," I said to her, seeing her study me a bit more before she clicked off the phone and placed it in her back pocket. We all were in street clothes, but the rest of them had their mercenary armor underneath. I was staying in my street clothes to not raise suspicion or questions. I had on a dark blue cotton jacket, skinny dark jeans with sneakers, a plain blue t-shirt, and my hair was pushed to the side over my shoulder.
"Okay," Andy said to us, then looking out towards the front of the main alleyway. We all looked, seeing the massive hard of apple walking together in the parade at the festival, hidden in costumes and masks. I was going to go out first, buy them a few seconds and then they would scatter and follow me in their line of sight. I breathed out slowly, and before I could go out there, Andy took my hand in hers and gave me one more look over.
"Remember," She said to me in her calm and yet leader voice, "Lay low…buy us some time…"
"I got it," I said to her, but she stared at me hard.
"And you're not going to stay in here, understand?" She asked me, having me search her eyes. She felt like she needed to remind me of what was going to happen there. I felt my heart sting a bit in how she was still reminding me of what they were going to do for me. I looked at the others, seeing them give me the same look. I nodded, giving them all one more look before I looked down at the opening into the street.
"Don't take too long," I said, not in a wanting but as a comment. There was no turning back to me as I threw on the hoodie of the jacket over my head and face to hide it away from the rest of the world.
"We won't," I heard Nicky behind me as I started walking. I knew I could do this, even with that small flicker of fear behind me and in the back of my brain. This was just like any other mercenary job I've done with them in the past, I had to let that be known in my mind as I was greeted by the sun that was perched into the sky. People were walking, chatting, and dancing with the music that was filling the town from the parade. I paused for a moment, right at the edge of the sidewalk before I rolled my shoulders.
I stepped out, and the plan was in motion.
It was easy to get lost in the crowd as they were moving like a gentle river current along the winding road of the street, the people bobbing to the beat of the music that was blaring out from speakers. I could see costumes and masks around me, some of those costumes had massive heads that were ten times the size of the body as they were swaying. I was watching very calmly as I was trying not to bring too much attention to myself, which worked out in my favor as I heard the song switch to a familiar Beatles song.
"I look at all the lonely people…"
People were singing along like it was a church hymn as we were turning to down a small hill, the sun blaring down on all of us to have a bank of sweat filling the air with the distinct smell of someone not too far away smoking weed and the local pub on my right with its stale beer. Colors were floating all around from the banners and flags, and all I could focus on was walking.
"Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear, no one comes near…"
My senses were on overload at this point as I was weaving around the people that were moving in one form. But I knew the building was close by, near the route of the parade. All I had to do was go along with the crowd, waiting for the right moment, and looking for the right people.
Speaking of which, one was in my line of sight.
"Eleanor Rigby, died in the church and was buried along with her name, nobody came…"
He was perched on the side of the parade against a building wall, smoking a cigarette and watching the parade with almost a scowl on his face. I could tell he wasn't part of the parade, and the stance he was in was a bit stiff to look like. His complexion made me remember what I saw on the file I was given, he was in the group.
I kept walking, passing by him briefly before I knew I was going to be caught.
I wanted to get closer to the building, but of course, not all the things and components of a plan go together without any hiccups along the way. At this rate, I was about 2 minutes away, barely within my grasps as I was trying not to show that I was caught. I had to let them get me, which was odd for me in all my years being solo and outrunning the bad guys. Now, I wanted the bad guys to get to me.
An arm was grabbing me by the elbow, and I felt a gun pressed against my rib underneath my shirt.
"Make one move and I'll kill you here and now," I heard in my ear with a heavy German accent as we were still walking with the crowd, "You must be asking for your death wish showing up here…alone,"
"You must be asking for a death wish yourself to do this out in public, don't you and your goons do this in the shadows?" I asked him coyly, feeling him grip my elbow a bit harder as he dryly chuckled.
"All bets are off when it comes to you and your…talent," He answered me in a sneer, in which I had to chuckle back at him in almost an antagonizing manner.
"You calling it talent is laughable," I said cooly under my breath to him.
"Lucky for you, my boss wants you alive," He replied in a snap, yanking me to the left with the gun still at my rib and taking me against the current of the people in the parade. I saw him elating me through an alleyway that would be cutting down our time to the building, so I knew he was in a bit of a rush. I tried to remain calm about it, not wanting to give too much away in what I knew what going to happen.
As we were about to go into the darkness of the alleyway, I looked over to the left briefly, seeing for a small quick moment a familiar face in the crowd of the parade, watching me like a hawk. I felt a quick rush, knowing that it was Nicky and he was watching me be taken into an alleyway before I could do anything back to him. He almost looked like he was in regret with this plan, me being taken by a Nazi and a gun to my side that I knew Nicky could see.
But I gave Nicky the smallest wink, knowing that my kidnapper didn't see it. Nicky was now out of sight as we were going through the narrow hallway, the sounds of the parade going farther away from us as I felt my arm going a bit numb from the grip of his hand and my rib starting to ache because of the added pressure of the gun barrel.
"You might as well tell me where your little friends are before you go inside because they'll get it out of you," My kidnapper wanted me in his cold tone as we were inching along the dark alleyway side by side.
"Then your boss can hold his breath, I came here alone," I answered him.
"Wanting to protect your precious freaks?" He asked in a taunting manner. I had to chuckle because it felt too easy for me to say something.
"Trust me when I said this, child," I said in a low tone, keeping my eyes in front of me and seeing we were near the end of the alley and back out into the light, "You should be more afraid of me than all of us together,"
"Why is that?" he asked, playing along.
"Because I'm far deadlier than any of them," I replied smoothly in a grunt as his grip was a pinch harder now, "Didn't they tell you? All of your comrades that tried to get me before…they were mere playthings for me to get out of my way,"
The man suddenly stopped, having me stop with him and he looked at me hard and intensely. I finally saw his face in the daylight, the youthfulness in his cheeks and eyes, and yet they were so cold to me. He looked too young to be caught up in a world like this, but I saw the hate embedded in his eyes and how he was looking at me with rage.
"You killed Daniel," He said to me in venom in his mouth, his eyes glaring at me with such death behind him it was a bit uneasy for me watch, "That wasn't appreciated amongst us who cared about him,"
"And he tried to murder me in cold blood," I replied coldly "I don't respond well with pathetic low scum who are merely a fraction to what true evil is," It was like I was jabbing at him in how his friend was killed by me. His glare at me now was worse, as I then heard the gun go off in his hadn't against my rib.
I screamed out in pain as the bullet went into my body, between my ribs. I almost fell tot he ground, but he held me up in a jolt, making the pain worse for me as he yanked me to keep walking. I was now limbing, the blood oozing out from the wounds and seeping into my shirt and jacket. Trying to walk now with a busted side from a gunshot was hard enough, but he was still having me walk at his pace as we were back out in the open. I finally saw the building in front of me, looking up at the structure of it and feeling a sense of reality coming in.
It was a bit more modern than the other buildings around it, showing me that it must have been built at least 10 years ago. There were at least 5 floors, the top floor had floor to ceiling windows that were barely tinted and large glass doors in front of us. It was a bit daunting to think that there were Nazis in there, minding their own business as if they belonged in this world. It made me square up a stance, though I had a death grip on my arm now and my wound was almost healing on its own.
"Sorry to say that I can't let you know where we take you," I looked over at my kidnapper, seeing him give me a petty but sinister smile, "But my boss will be very happy to see you, make no mistake."
He reared the end of the gun against my face, breaking my nose and making my vision go black.
I finally woke up, though it took a moment or two for me to finally get my head back together in one piece. The last thing I remembered was being out in front of the building being held at gunpoint. But now, I was in a new place.
Specifically, I was in a medical room of some sort.
It looked very clean, computer screens were eon my left against the wall like a panel with some beeping and voices over a walkie talkie near my right. My head was feeling a bit busy, there was dry blood underneath my nose and caked along my rib both on my skin and on my clothes. I tried to move, but I was held down by something. It was almost like velcro, across my upper chest and over my lower legs, but both of my hands were zipped together on my lap. Once I got my vision back together and getting the sense back in me, I noticed I was in some kind of dentist chair.
"Guten Tag," I heard in front of me, having me see that there were at least five men in the room watching me, wearing their dark clothing and seeming a bit stiff. The one who was right in front of me looked a bit too happy to see me awake there, though the other fours looked a bit comfortable that I was there. The four of them were young, merely in their mid-twenties, whereas the man in front of me I knew instantly who he was. I kept my mouth shut as he grinned at me. The blond hair, the angular face, and blue eyes were drilling into me as he chuckled.
"Haben Sie gut geschlafen?" He asked, his thick voice was deep and yet trinket sound casual to me. I didn't give him any looks yet since I was trying to read him in what he was going to be like with me.
"I've slept in worse places," I replied calmly, seeing his grin grow a bit bigger now. He even chuckled as I was staying neutral.
"Ah, you know Deutsch," he said easily, almost being too casual for me at that moment, "First I would like to say I do apologize for our manners in bringing you into our facility. I promise you we have manners and I hold those manners to a higher caliber amongst my men," After he said that, he looked over to the second henchman on the left, the one who caught me in the parade and he walked over to him. The henchman, who was glaring me be briefly, looked at his leader with a bit of uneasiness.
"If I'm not mistaken, she was brought in leaving some blood all over my floors, thanks to one of your bullets," he said to the henchman, who stood a bit too straight and almost looked pale in the face from being called out in front of a room of people, including me being a captive. The leader looked down at him, a calm look on his face as the henchman was about to explain.
"She was the one who—" The henchman washout to say, but the leader punched him square in the face. He collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth as he was holding his face in his hands. The leader's hand went back down, and yet he stayed composed and still.
"When I say to bring her back in one piece, that also means without a blown rib," He said to the henchman in a low tone, "Get out of my sight before you leave more blood all over my floors,"
The henchman, reluctantly, was staggering up a bit and moving out of the glass doors, tripping himself along the way. The leader was still looking away from me, almost showing me he was trying to control his temper. I saw the way his fists were still solid and stiff against his side, almost like he was going to burst from all the energy he was going to keep inside.
"You're The Wolf," I said to him, seeing his spine go up a bit as I called him by his codename. The other three henchmen in the room were silent, looking at their leader to see what he was going to go. But the leader just turned back to me with a calm grin on his face. He was charismatic, I could give them that credit.
"You've heard of me?" He asked, almost sounding cocky as he slowly walked back to stand in front of me.
"Just heard, nothing else," I merely confessed, though he gave a slow chuckle.
"I am a human of the shadows… just like you," he said to me, pointing to me with his barely bloody hand and knuckles, taking another step over to me as his eyes were looking right at me, "Do you know why you're here?"
"I have a hunch," I answered.
"You're here because of a simple document from a well-known doctor, written out about over 80 years ago during a massive war," He explained, his voice was bit more bit than it was before, "You see, as much as the rest o the world hate sour beliefs and what we stand for, we do have ownership and pride in what we have accomplished in the past in the world. This doctor specifically…what he's done in the name of science and of humanity—"
"I'm gonna stop you right there," I said to him, seeing him instantly quiet and looking a bit shocked as to me hushing him from an infamous speech. Even his henchmen were shocked, giving him a side glance to see if he was going to snap from me stoping him mid-speech at me. But I honestly had enough of it.
I grunted, sitting up barely from the restraints that were on me as I gave him an intense look, "Let's just say for argument's sake, this doctor did what he thought was best for you and your Third Reich brainwashing novelty. I'm gonna go on a limb here and say…and please take this as offensively as you want…the man was a lunatic and a fucking monster,"
I can't believe how calm I was with I said this in a group of Nazis, in a Nazi building, and I could be at their deposit within moments and seconds. But there was bravery seeping through me, not like how it was before when I felt very vulnerable and afraid. I knew better now in this time of history, I knew more than they thought I did. All I had to do at this point was let them in with what I was inwardly battling.
"So…you are the one who he worked on that didn't die," The Wolf sighed out of his lips, as if my outburst with him didn't happen. He was eyeing me up and down now, either as a prize or a piece of meat. Either way, he was eyeing me in a way that made me want to punch his face out, "His infamous Fräulein…The picture is such a resemblance…..even when you looked all battered. Yet," He bit his lower lip, almost looking strained from what he was about to say next, his eyes were getting colder, "You survived."
"I did, although he murdered at least 33 others," I countered back with him, "His own philosophy on humanity and who should live or die was vastly morbid and laughable,"
A few of the henchman sat up a bit, having me see out of the corner of my eyes as they were popping the safety strap of their guns that were strapped to their legs open. Were they threatened by what I said? I didn't care since I was focusing on The Wolf. He held out his hand, silently telling the henchman to calm back down though his eyes were still one me. I could tell he was mentally starting to really hate me with what I was saying to him.
"All we would want from you is your secret of living forever," he said simply, trying to keep it casual with me, almost changing tactic with what he had before.
"You've lasted this long not knowing whatever secret you think I have," I answered back smoothly, "What makes you think it's a secret?"
"You call it a gift?" he asked, almost mocking me in how calm and collected I was.
"I call it plenty of things that I won't even tell you since you don't deserve it," I replied cooly, sticking to my guts and my ground. He chuckled, shoved his hands in his pockets as he strolled over to me, almost a foot away from me now as he tilted his head at me.
"You don't think we can get it out of you?" He asked, having me see the flint fo anger there that he was dying to let out on me, but it wasn't at that point just yet, "We've tried to come and talk with you, a civil conversation is all we wanted. But you decide to retaliate on my men," he then looked over at another one of his henchmen. I looked too, and it took a mere moment or two before I knew who he was. A thin but clear scar was on his cheek, still pink around the edges and somewhat fresh.
"It makes me look like such a fool to have this happen to one of my good men," The Wolf explained as he looked back at me, my eyes were staring him down though he was barely taller than me. I then had to glare at him, since it felt like he thought he was mightier than me in all of this.
"I have his dagger," I said to him, seeing instantly the small flicker in his eyes as I was staring him down intensely, "You think I haven't seen that blade before, what it represents and its message to everyone in the world? You stand here in front of me, acting like the cool and calm monster that you dreamed up in our own tiny mind."
Clearly, that was a nerve as his stand was as stiff as ever. But it was no matter for me. A sense of bravery and was coming through me in how I was dealing with this. It was far different from how it was in the past and how I had no plan behind this. But the fear was no longer there, since seeing him stand in front of me with his pompous attitude and egotistical mind made me despise him.
"Müll! What I've seen would make you weep, what I felt would make your skin crawl….and no matter how hard you try and what to do to me….you won't be able to break me and bend me to your will." I sneered at him, feeling a good amount of strength coming through me to the point that I could even break the zip tie that was binding my hands together if I could. Something in me was bursting to want to come out.
"I would highly suggest you watch your tone before you lose a limb," He said to me, his voice was now icy and low from the cool composure he had before. It made me lean forward a bit now in my seat, glaring him down as if he was the last insect on the planet and no longer afraid. I was afraid when I had this first round of torture inflicted on me. I was afraid when I was alone and I thought no one was going to come to my rescue. I was afraid that I was going to truly die.
But that fear was gone.
"I've been threatened by deadlier people than you. I can list the thousands of things that your precious hero of a doctor did to me that can make your henchman infants behind you piss their pants," I hummed in my own low tone, "You can do your worst. In fact, I want you to. I want you to see what happens when the power is not in your hands."
All it took for him was a few seconds to reach over to one of his soldiers, grabbing a pistol from them and then aiming right between my eyes, pulling the trigger. Everything was dark, and everything was silent.
And so it began.