A/N: hey there!
i want to thank: cerulean cascades, glittering moonlight, miyame-chan, psychotic honeybadger of death, and outside the crayon box for their reviews.
thanks for the words of encouragement and compliments and ugh, i love you all.
to answer you questions and address your comments: yeah, i know chris for prez. heheheh, but i needed someone we all knew. plus it's not like it really matters, he's dead anyways. soo... LOL! alright then, miyame-chan, that's perf! dempsey was the vice, but he's prezzy now. omg, sarah! i know that song! i love it. you brought back memories from the old days. claire is only a side character in this one, sorry! massie/derrick are the leads. hehe anastasia, your all caps reviews always make me laugh. thanks jo, next chap should be up soon for revenge. joy, thanks for the compliments!
OKAY!
this chapter is up fast because this story is so short compared to revenge, which is like 7000+ words a chapter. so, this is EASY PEASY for me! it was actually hard for me not to make it longer. SOMEBODY HELP ME I'M IN A WRITING FRENZY
warning: this story has LOTS of language, as you could already tell from the first chapter. if swearing offends you, this story might not be for you.
enjoy!
Chapter Two
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"Well?" Acting Operations Director Josh Hotz demanded. His voice echoed in the plain conference room where they were all seated around the center table. Minus one Massie Block, of course.
It had been a year since the last time they had all met up together.
'What a happy reunion,' Alicia thought sarcastically to herself. Since she was sitting nearest to Josh, she turned to him and raised her eyebrows. "We gave you everything."
"There's only a total of six safe units here," Josh snapped, gesturing at the pile of papers on the large metal table in front of them. "Are you telling me that in five years worth of missions, all you've managed to compile together is six safe houses?"
Kemp Hurley scoffed, catching the room's attention. He was sitting the furthest away from the group, at the end of the table in the back of the room, with his arms crossed and his expression tight.
"Problem, Hurley?" Josh snapped. The recent promotion had not softened him at all, if anything it had made him harder. Alicia knew Command was on his ass for results.
They needed to bring down Massie Block.
"You know full well Massie worked alone on most operations," Kemp replied bitterly.
"Most," Josh repeated, his eyes narrowing. "Not all."
He cast a glance around at them all and Alicia followed his eye movements covertly. Claire Lyon's face gave nothing away, but Alicia knew for a fact that she was annoyed. Claire had always hated debriefings; it was all about the hunt and the kill for her. Kemp was the same as always, cross and closed off. He was extra pissed because his three month stint was called off for this.
'Oh please,' Alicia scoffed mentally. Her undercover operation was blown completely and she had been working towards it for a year.
Finally, Alicia followed Josh and trailed her eyes to Derrick, who was completely impassive.
Josh's eyes stayed on him. Derrick raised a brow, but didn't say anything.
"Well?" Josh finally snapped, breaking the silence first. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife from the way there were all antsy to end this and leave, to go already, to hunt and kill.
"Well, what?" Derrick asked calmly.
"Care to share, Harrington?"
Derrick's own eyes narrowed. "What are you implying, Hotz?"
Josh leered. "Well, you would know Massie best, wouldn't you say? You telling me you haven't been to any of her other safe points?"
"No, I haven't. Agent Block kept her secrets close to her chest, like we were all trained to do," Derrick snarled. "I've only ever been to two of hers, and they were both from the two missions we went on."
Josh didn't respond.
Alicia sighed loudly, leaning back in her chair and picking at her cuticles. "Massie could be anywhere in the world by now. There's no guarantee she's even in a safe house."
Josh sneered. "I issued an all out man-hunt for her today. Her face is plastered on the FBI and CIA's top Most Wanted. We even got the UK, Canada, and China looking for her just in case she skipped borders. She'll be at a safe house."
"Then let's get to it," Claire snapped impatiently. It was the first time she had spoken since the meeting had commenced and no one dared argue with her.
Alicia let Derrick, Claire, and Kemp grab the safe house files, watching their faces closely. She wondered if any of them had kept any safe units they knew for a fact Massie owned a secret as well.
They were all hoping to catch her first, so Alicia was betting that yes. They most definitely had.
Out of all three, Derrick had the best chance of finding her. Josh was right, Derrick and Massie had been together and there was absolutely no way he only knew two of her possible locations. It was a load of bull, Alicia could smell it.
But that was okay, because she already knew a possible, probable location Massie was hiding at that even Derrick had no clue about. She would get to her first.
Let the hunt begin.
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Massie panted, her breathing coming out in regulated puffs, as she sprinted across the open field of grass leading towards one of her safe places.
It was strategic when you were inside looking out, but being the one trying to infiltrate it left you completely exposed.
Maybe she had chosen wrong.
What were the chances of one of her old teammates being inside already? Watching her right this moment?
Massie scanned the perimeter once more, but there didn't seem to be anyone around, the grass around the area seemingly completely undisturbed. Good. Massie slowed down once she was hidden from view by the warehouse's looming shadow. She edged along the side of the building to the back and entered.
Closing the door behind her with a soft click, she paused at the entrance, listening intently. The warehouse served its purpose as a good luring base. Its high vaulted wooden ceilings caused everything to echo and the crates lining the whole storage unit provided excellent coverage.
Massie rounded the warehouse using the sides, her heels clicked loudly in the deserted room, but it couldn't be helped. Arriving at the inventory station of the unit, Massie felt under the table and pressed a button. She felt the edge of the table and put in her pass code. The vaulted metal desk slid open, revealing her weapons. She swung her duffle bag over her shoulder and dropped it to the ground, loading it with enough just weapons to escape suspicion. Massie clicked the compartment shut, debating what to do.
Massie couldn't trust anyone. They would find her, she knew it. Her team had betrayed her. Someone had framed her. She didn't know why, but she was going to find out. And now, now they were all after her, out for her blood.
Well, depending on who found her first, Massie would take them down with her.
It wouldn't be long now. She knew it.
Dropping her bag of weapons by the exit, Massie grabbed a crowbar from the workstation left by workers. Walking slowly and crouched low, she wound her way through the maze of wooden crates. She eyed a stack piled higher than her.
Massie swung the bar at the bottom crate, hitting the edge of the box. It splintered. Massie continued on her way, doing the same to two other piles. She smirked, prying open another box and ditching the bar. Now, all she had to do was wait.
She stood silently. Who could have done this to her? Easy, only her teammates would have the knowledge to pull something like this off. But why… was the real question? If she had a motive, all this would be so much easier.
Was Derrick in on it? His cover job had been in charge of the investigation at the Pentagon… He had been the one to release her name to the press… But he had also given her ample warning. Too bad Massie had already caught on quickly from the very beginning. What would have happened if she hadn't fled? If she had stayed in the Capital?
Would they have tortured her, like they had all done to countless prisoners?
She knew with certainty that yes. Yes, they would have.
Massie stilled when cold metal pressed against the back of her neck. The gun cocked with a loud click, the sound echoing ominously in the silent warehouse.
"Hello, Derrick," Massie purred.
Massie could hear the smirk in his voice when he asked, "How'd you know it was me?"
His breath tickled the back of her neck, bringing back memories best left forgotten. She raised her hands in the air to show that she was harmless, but he didn't remove his gun. Massie tilted her head to the side, eyeing the crates. She felt his eyes burning into where his gun pressed against her neck.
Because he was one of two people who wouldn't shoot first and ask question later. Because he always gave her the benefit of the doubt. Because Derrick had a weakness.
And his weakness was her.
"Because no one else would make the same mistake twice," Massie said, right before she ducked and kicked out. Derrick's grunt of pain was drowned out by the sudden, sharp crack of the splintering bottom crate. All the crates above it toppled. Derrick grappled with her, trying to stop his fall, pulling her down along with him, but Massie was ready.
The moment their bodies hit the concrete floor, she was already rolling to the side. The crates crushed Derrick, trapping him under, and only missed her by inches.
Shit, that was close.
Massie jumped to her feet, twisted around, and kicked the gun out of his hand. It skidded across the warehouse floor and stopped, hitting another crate, but Derrick was already shoving crates off him. Massie turned and ran. A trick like that should only have worked once, Derrick should have known better.
Massie kicked out again, but didn't spare a look at the second wave of crates toppling, blocking Derrick from running after her.
She rounded a corner and stopped, leaning against and crate and trying to breathe quietly. Massie had always hated training sessions with Derrick. It was all a battle of wills and guesswork, trying to outthink each other. Would Massie do what she would normally do? Or would she do the opposite to throw Derrick off? Or would Derrick already be expecting that and already making countermoves to her countermoves?
Working against her own teammates was not to her advantage. They knew her too well.
Massie looked up; she had hit a low stack. Okay, she would go up. The lights flickered on suddenly, humming to life. Shit, Derrick would see her now. Should she risk it? But suddenly, the tall metal stacks piled with crates in the back were toppling over, one by one, causing a chain reaction.
She jumped off and landed on the ground with a roll, coming up to her feet. She was sprinting towards clear ground and probably Derrick, away from falling metal and boxes before she had time to reconsider.
The moment she was free of the danger, Derrick appeared. He swung his arm out and attempted to stop her run. Massie was ready for it; she bent over backwards and passed under him. She turned her body back around and latched onto him. She spun again and brought his arm into lock position, a millimeter away from dislocating his shoulder.
But Derrick didn't attempt to fight her or parry her movements.
Massie frowned.
She leaned down over him. "What do you want, Harrington?"
Derrick made to move, but Massie pressed down with force. Massie didn't let him up, the stakes were too high for Derrick to lull her into a false sense of security, just because of their shared past.
"What do you think, Block?" Derrick hissed. "You're on the Most Wanted list and Hotz has the whole fucking team after you."
"So, what?" Massie asked, straightening up slightly. "You're here to kill me?"
"No," Derrick panted, wincing at the lack of blood flow to his arm. "I'm here to help."
Massie narrowed her eyes at him. Help with what? Covering up the assassination? Clearing her name? Or 'help her' by killing her the moment she lowered her guard? Derrick didn't even know if she had really done it or not. Whose side was he on really?
"Come on, Block," Derrick hissed out. "You know me better than that."
She had thought she had known her whole team too, but none of them could be trusted. Massie pushed, forcing Derrick to his knees and reached into his shoe for his second gun. The moment it was in Massie's hands, she let him go.
Derrick rose to his feet slowly and Massie backed away, cocking the gun. He grimaced with exaggerated pain. Massie rolled her eyes and kept the gun pointed straight at him.
"You released my name to the press."
"You forced everybody's hand when you didn't show up for the call back to base."
"You pointed a loaded gun at me."
"And you're doing the same."
Massie scoffed and watched carefully as Derrick lowered his arms. Massie knew the gun in her hand wasn't his only weapon, but he made no move to draw another.
"Why'd you do it?" Derrick asked her.
What a loaded question. Denying it was pointless, worthless without proof right now. She couldn't provide anything to really convince him. Answering him would also mean she knew the answer. She had no clue why someone would shoot the beloved president and pin it on her.
"I didn't do it," Massie finally settled on saying.
Derrick watched her closely. They could read each other well, but never well enough. That was what never worked between them. Massie would always think that she knew him like the back of her hand, but he always managed to surprise her, to make her wonder, to make her question her own self.
And Massie couldn't handle that loss of control. The feeling of freefalling into the unknown with Derrick scared her so much she couldn't handle it. She gave up on something for the first time in her life in letting him go. Loving him had been a curse that Massie had been sure she had shaken off.
Turns out she was wrong.
Could she kill him if he had been the one to frame her?
Derrick stared at her and Massie stared back. Something unidentifiable shifted in his caramel eyes and Massie knew that even if he didn't fully believe her, he wanted to.
And that was good enough for her.
She lowered her gun and Derrick relaxed fractionally. He wouldn't kill her, he hadn't yet, and if she had an ally on the inside, all the better. Massie told herself that if he had given himself away, she would have done it, would have killed him. Really, but it sounded hallow even to herself.
"Fuck," Derrick cursed bitterly, staring at her. She made him doubt everything. "Fucking hell, Block."
Massie smiled softly at him. She raised an eyebrow.
"Okay," He sighed, straightening up and mentally preparing himself. "Alright. Alright, but make it good."
"That's a promise," Massie smirked.
In the next second, she had pivoted. Her roundhouse kick nailed him right in the jaw, sending him reeling back and knocking him unconscious.
Massie was sprinting away before he even hit the ground.
They would meet again.
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A/N: how did it come off? was it interesting enough? was it intense enough?
god, like i said before i'm incapable of derrick/massie fluff. they're always at each others throats in my stories. gahhh.
but at least they have a good reason in this one, they're spies and can't trust each other. hehehehe.
i changed the team number to add another character.
FUN FACT: BPS-6 stands for Briarwood Pretty Spies 6. (briarwoodboys, prettycommities, spies.) i needed letters and that worked well enough for me.
review? thanks for reading! see you soon.