Hacker!Lydia/Assassin!Allison
"And who are you?" Lydia whispers to herself, pausing her typing to glance at her laptop. The cameras reveal a shadow moving through the galleria. "Silly child," she adds, smirking.
The shadow moves quickly, keeping its head down and out of sight. Lydia watches it move from camera to camera, room to room. the shadow eventually stops in a room with several paintings. It chooses one that wasn't well- known or often-visited.
"Not even the most expensive one in the lot." The admonishment is quick, and then she's back to glancing between the computer and her laptop. She types a few more lines of code, finally gets what she needs, and begins packing up her equipment as she waits for the files to transfer.
Lydia still checks on the shadow, who just cracked the glass on the display and alarms begin blaring. She curses under her breath as she rushes to gather her things and sneak around the now-awake security guards. Her files are just about to finish when a shout makes her jump back from the computer and put her hands up.
A guard stands in the doorway, stun-gun in hand. "Step away from the computer," he commands slowly. "Put down the bag." Lydia has her bag over her shoulder and all she needs is her flash drive and she's all set.
Suddenly, his neck is twisted and he drops to the floor without another sound. The shadow, as it turns out, showed up to bail her out. They have half its face covered by a bandana, and the rest is hidden in shadow from their hood.
They don't talk as the shadow waits for Lydia to get her flash drive and follow them out of the gallery. Lydia had taken a cab as to seem inconspicuous and so the guards and faculty didn't have her name or know what she looked like. The shadow apparently drove their own car, paid for parking, and doesn't seem in a rush at all.
Lydia slides into the passenger seat, bag sitting on the floor by her feet, and puts on her seatbelt. The shadow slips into the driver's seat, buckles in, and pulls out of the garage.
"Where are we going?" Lydia asks, only watching the roads pass and not on the shadow. She needs to pay attention to her surroundings so she doesn't get killed by the shadow.
"I didn't kill that guard." The shadow finally speaks. And they're female. Lydia looks over and sees her bandanna pulled down and hood fallen slightly down her head. "And we're going to my apartment."
"You don't even know my name yet you incapacitated that guard for me. Why?"
The woman doesn't even turn her head as she says, "Your name is Lydia Martin. And I know you will be very valuable in the future."
"How can you know that?" Lydia asks, now worried about her name getting out there to the public. She works hard to have a pretend normal life. "And while you're at it, how do you know my name?"
"I know because I know about the work you've done." The woman smirks. "That also answers your other question."
Lydia stares at her. "Well I think I deserve to know your name."
"You do, do you?" The woman asks, smiling bright enough to light the whole car up. "And why do you think you deserve it?"
"Because You not only know who I am, but where I was tonight!" Lydia yells. "That freaks me out!"
"I guess I do agree on those terms." The woman looks up through the windshield. "But how about a drink first?"
Lydia does the same, and the building is a very tall, very fancy (re: expensive), apartment building. They stay silent again as the woman waves at the booth attendee and drives into the garage, the woman pulling carefully into an assigned spot.
"Guess that money goes somewhere important, huh?" She teases as they walk to the elevator. The woman inserts a key and hits the very top number. and the elevator begins moving. "Like towards a penthouse?"
The woman smiles. "Like towards a penthouse."
When the doors open up, Lydia's eyes are in immediately drawn to the floor to-ceiling windows that show the city and its beauty. Then to the fireplace and mounted TV, to the plush couch and loveseat, the adjacent kitchen and bar, to the bathroom too large for one occupant, and finally to the one room that is properly hidden by walls that are still somewhat transparent.
Lydia surveys, and then turns to look at the woman. Lydia shrugs.
The woman seems to take offense to that. "Really?"
"I've seen better." Lydia turns to bite her smile back. "Mostly the bedroom, but hey," she turns back, "I don't need interior decorating tips from my mark."
The woman, whose name Lydia still doesn't have for some reason, deflates and walks to the kitchen. Specifically, the bar. She grabs a bottle of whiskey and two glasses and walks over to the couch. She doesn't even use the glass when she takes the first sip, just drinks it right from the bottle. She then pours the drinks into the glasses and offers one to Lydia.
Lydia takes it and sits on the opposite side of the couch. "I still don't know your name."
"My neighbor got this for me as a welcome gift." The woman holds up the bottle, as if to inspect it. "We ended up drinking the whole thing and fucked against the window." She laughs and Lydia smiles. "He was my mark as well."
"What did you need from him?" Lydia asks.
"Information," she says, the smile dropping from her face.
Lydia hastily changes the subject. "My cat is a spoiled princess." The woman slowly smiles and eventually laughs. "Yeah. I'm still not entirely sure how it happened. One day, she just decided that she wanted only the best." Lydia smiles. "Probably gets it from her mom."
"Do you take her shopping or something?"
"No! That's what I don't understand. When I tested it, I bought two brands of cat food. She went for the expensive one and didn't even touch the cheaper one. I even covered the labels!"
The woman shrugs. "Maybe they smell different."
Lydia laughs. "Probably. I've taught her to well."
"Do you have any other royal animals?" The woman asks, twirling the glass between her palms.
"Thank God I don't. I'd be out of all my hard-earned money."
The woman gives her a look. "Hard earned?"
"Well dealing with my temporary bosses is the hard part." Lydia runs a hand through her hair, taking a deep breath to relax. "I'm usually in and out. I don't get caught."
"Maybe I wanted to get caught," the woman jokes, taking another sip of alcohol. "Maybe I like the thrill of the chase."
"Clearly," Lydia mumbles, but makes sure the woman could hear her. She grabs her glass, abandoned on the coffee table, and sighs. "I need to get that information to my boss," she mumbles to herself. "He'll be shitting himself if I don't show up tomorrow morning."
"You can tell him you were entranced by a beautiful thief who stole your heart," the woman teases. Lydia makes a disgusted face at that, prompting the woman to start laughing. "Not into that lovey-dovey shit?"
Lydia says, "Eh. This line of work doesn't usually make room for relationships. Plus nobody I know is a viable candidate."
"What's wrong with them?"
"Either already married, in a relationship, plain boring, or not interested in anything but my body." She taps the side of her head. "I'm all about the mind. My ex was almost as awesome as me, but sadly he wasn't a fan of stealth or thievery."
The woman smiles again. "Sounds like a great guy."
Lydia sighs. "Yeah. He was."
They sit in silence for a few minutes. Lydia watches the night slowly fade into morning, and watches the woman on her right in her peripherals.
"I should go soon," Lydia says, standing and finally taking a sip of her drink.
That's when everything goes to shit.
"No!" The woman screams, grabbing the glass out of Lydia's hands and throwing it to the ground. She has a tight hold on Lydia's wrists, a hold Lydia cannot escape from.
When the woman pulls on Lydia's arm, Lydia pulls back, which makes her extremely dizzy and almost topples over. Suddenly, there are two women in front of her, both with worried expressions on their faces.
Both women run out of the room and into the bathroom. Lydia focuses on trying not to fall asleep. She has enough of her mind to know the drink was drugged, and staying awake is the number one priority.
"You need to throw up," the women say, shoving a bucket into Lydia's hands. "You have to do it now."
Lydia reaches out to grab one of the faces but then the faces disappear into a cloud of black.
"-and we hope you have a good flight."
Lydia wakes up too comfortable and with a massive headache. A water and two pain pills are placed on the tray in front of her.
"For the hangover." The woman, now just one, is sitting next to her.
"You drugged me," Lydia says. She eyes the water and pills, not trusting it one bit. "Last night, you drugged me and I passed out. It couldn't have been the drink because you weren't affected." Lydia looks up. "So you drugged the cup. How?"
The woman sighs, eyes closing and head in her hands. "I- I didn't do it." She looks up. "My bosses- They are the ones who want to-" The woman stops abruptly, looking down at her tray.
Lydia feels dread and fear (something she hasn't felt in years) weigh her stomach down like lead. "Who are you?"
The woman smiles. "I'm Allison Argent," she holds out a hand Lydia does not plan on taking, "thief and assassin."
"Assassin," Lydia whispers. "Argent." She falls back into her chair, looking out over the ocean. "I'm going to die."
Allison has the nerve to laugh. It's more of a giggle, though, and Lydia feels a sharp chill cut through her.
"No, silly. I saved you. You know my name." She points to the window. "Where do you think we're headed right now?"
"We are going to die. This plane is going to c-" Allison cuts her off by slapping a hand over her mouth.
"Shut up, Martin," Allison warns with a way too cheery smile. "You are going to cause a severe panic that no one wants." She releases her hand. "Now, we are going to France. My dad has a few stations set up, and not one is public nor private knowledge. Only one is hidden so well that only he and I know about it."
Lydia can't calm down. She, a hacker, is sitting next to not only an assassin, but an Argent. Never has an Argent allowed a target to live.
Allison leans in close, and Lydia actually flinches away. Allison takes the hint and backs off. "I'm sorry. I don't want to kill you. I like you. You're not a bad person, and I can see that." She sits back in her seat, eyes closing and hands clasped at her stomach. "We'll be there in about five hours."
Lydia has to use all her energy into not jumping out of this plane. She, too, closes her eyes, but she can't do it for long or else she panics and has to open them to make sure she's still alive.
She is. She is alive and sitting next to a sleeping assassin known for killing murderers and rapists and cannibals and crazy shit like that. Allison is almost as well known as her dad, Chris.
But who would want Lydia killed? Granted she steals information and sells it for a profit, but usually it's harmless or, to her, useless.
She gets a much better profit off of it than the jobs her bosses pull off.
Somehow, Lydia falls asleep, and hates the way she is calm enough to do so.
She wonders what it says about her.