All The Right Moves
Chapter Three: Midnight Gift
"Man cannot discover new oceans, unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." - Andre Gide
"I'll cut it short, it's a pretty long story." Thom turned in his seat to face Alex. They sat at the breakfast bar in her kitchen, two untouched bottles of beer between them.
"Two months after I was recruited by Percy, I was activated for my first Op - a simple Intel gathering mission. We had to stake out a building in downtown New York, known to be used by Israeli terrorists allegedly planning an attack on US soil - somewhere high-profile like federal buildings or the subway system. It was my job to find out how many were in the building and record their movements. We worked in pairs, rotating every six hours. We'd change over shifts at a nearby gas station, which had a perfect view of the building." He slid himself off the bar stool, grabbed his beer and began pacing around the apartment. Downing a sizeable amount of the amber liquid, he continued.
"During one changeover I went in to use the restroom and accidentally ran into someone. I didn't think anything of it until I got back to my room at Division and found a piece of paper in my jacket pocket. It had a photograph of my baby sister Katie on it, with the words "I know the truth" underneath. I thought it was a wind-up at first, I mean I knew what had happened to her. She and my parents were killed during a home invasion one night when I was at my buddy's house. The police thought it was a couple of gang members who broke in, ransacked the house and shot my family. She was four years old, Alex. And they shot her, point blank in the head. Who does that to a baby?" He slammed the now-empty bottle hard on the countertop but didn't let go, his knuckles turning white
"Oh God Thom, I'm so sorry." Alex didn't know what else to say. He carried on, as if she hadn't spoken.
"This all happened a few days before I met Percy, when he told me I had the chance to avenge my family's death. He would help me find who killed them and in return I would work for his branch of the government. Seemed like a fair deal to me. I owed it to Katie and my parents. Anyway the Israeli Op continued, we went back a couple more times. The final time, I went to the restroom of the gas station again, and he was there."
"Who? This Owen person?"
"Yeah, Owen. He introduced himself, told me he was a Division Guardian. Of course I believed him, I mean, who else knows about Division? He told me that he was the one who left the note. Just as we were switching shifts, Percy had gotten more information on the timeline of the attack - the terrorists were moving quicker than we had expected and Percy gave the order to blow the building. While the team leaders were busy making it look like a controlled demolition, Owen seized his opportunity and explained everything to me. He recalled the entire night that my family died, in minute detail. He knew things that only someone who had seen it happen would know. He said he'd found information on one of these 'black boxes' that Percy distributed around the world. I take it you know about them?" Alex just nodded in reponse.
"Well his box just so happened to contain a video and audio recording of that night. It wasn't gang members who murdered my family - it was Division. See, I was adopted as a baby. My biological parents were apparent drug addicts who couldn't even take care of themselves let alone me. This couple came along who were looking to adopt, and the rest is history as they say. Except it wasn't. It was all a lie."
"My real parents weren't drug addicts. They weren't alcoholics. They were the definition of a perfect mother and father. There was more information on that box. According to the data on it, my adoptive parents worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6. They were what's known as 'sleeper agents' - spies who are placed in a target country but aren't active. They're basically dormant for years, so they have to blend into everyday life as normal citizens, then they can be activated if needed. Adopting me was part of their cover. They took me from the hospital when I was six days old, and my parents never saw me again. Division got word of three sleeper agent cells operating in the US - one British and two Russian - and carried out hits against them, making each one look like a gang-related robbery."
"In the end Alex, I'm here for exactly the same reason you are - revenge, except my reasons for that revenge have changed. I came to Division looking for my family's killers, not knowing I was pledging my loyalty to them. Owen 'officially' went rogue not long after I graduated, but he's been against Division for much longer in reality. That's why he had to find Nikita. When he told me she had someone on the inside, and that "his" name was Alex, it all just made sense."
"So...you've known about me this entire time? What about all those Ops you've been on, why did you go along with them? Like Ana Harcourt?"
"Ana Harcourt was just a means to an end. I know it sounds horrible, but I did what I had to do to become an Agent. Just like you did with Jaden. Harcourt was a real Russian spy, so I don't feel bad about taking her out. Besides once I discovered you, I knew that it didn't matter if the missions failed, because it would be Nikita who had ruined them, not me. Everyone would blame her and I wouldn't be suspected. Guess I'm doing an all right job, huh?"
"This is weird. I mean, really weird. You've always seemed so...Division. I never questioned your loyalty to them, until the other day of course. But where do we go from here? Are Nikita and Owen working together, or do we just keep on doing our own separate things?"
"Here's what we do. We take Division down. We burn it to the ground and we don't look back."
Elena yawned as she rode the elevator down to Ammunitions. She had tried to sleep back in her own bed, but her dreams were filled with visions of the things she had seen in Afghanistan, things she wished she could forget. As she stepped out onto the deck, she was greeted by just the person she'd been looking for.
"I've been reading a book Michael." He merely raise an eyebrow, and carried on walking to the gun range. He needed to let off some steam, and figured that mentally morphing a metal target board into Kasim Tariq's face would suffice. Or perhaps Nikita's...
"Uh, that's nice?" Elena ignored his sarcasm and pushed on.
"It's a book about body language. You know, how to tell if someone's lying or if they're in love with you blah blah blah. Borrowed it from Amanda. Interesting stuff, you should read it. Especially if you really want to know what's going on with your Alex girl."
"Would you keep your voice down? And she's not my girl, Ellie." He picked up an M1911 and hesitated, before switching to a Sig Sauer P226. Much lighter and less bite.
"Ahh, so you don't have any feelings for her then?"
"No. She's a colleague, nothing more." He handed Elena a pair of ear protectors, and put on his own. He was about to take his first shot, but couldn't get into it just yet. He needed complete silence, and as much as he loved his best friend, she wasn't leaving until she'd said her piece. So he retreated from the cage, clicked the safety on the weapon and pulled the ear muffs around his neck.
"Liar. You forget what I just told you? I know how to tell when someone's lying, and right now your pants are on fire." Elena hadn't even bothered putting her hearing protection on, knowing what was coming next.
"I'm not lying! I have no feelings towards Alex."
"You're so lying. You keep looking down and won't make eye contact. And if you don't have any feelings for her, why are you getting so defensive?"
"Because you're starting to sound like Amanda. I know you get on well, but the last thing Division needs is another shrink."
"She gives some pretty good advice, wouldn't kill you to talk to her once in a while. You're so...dark, Michael. You need to let it all out. If you can't admit your feelings for Alex to me, then at least admit them to yourself. You know I'm right." And with that, she placed the headset on the table and left the range, leaving a rather perplexed Michael in her wake.
He replaced his ear protection, activated the trigger and emptied the entire magazine into the target.
"Yeah. You are."
Next chapter will be about Elena's past and what's wrong with Birkhoff.
Hope you liked.
Harri x
