Es ist nicht gut
Wo bist du?
Ludwig glanced down at his phone, staring at the text from his brother, before putting the phone back into his pocket, with an informant on the way: Ludwig cannot afford to look as though he is in contact with someone. Ludwig stood by the quiet bus stop, trying his best to look as casual as possible; however, his eyes were constantly scanning the street for anyone who was coming towards him. He knew that in order to find Feliciano, he had to reach out to others and he didn't care what kind of scum they were.
Ludwig glanced to his side when a shorter man stood beside him, leaning against the bus stop. However Ludwig could not assume that it was the person he was looking for, until he heard the code word.
"Do you know if it is going to rain next Monday?" Ludwig asked the stranger, initiating the code.
Without skipping a beat, the stranger responded, "It's going to flood."
Ludwig couldn't help but smile as he finished the code, "We better get an arc… Toby?"
"Nice to meet you, Ludwig," Toby replied, revealing a thick New Zealander accent, "You need some help?"
"I need you to take me to Oz…" Ludwig admitted, making the New Zealander frown.
"What? Has this been approved?" Toby asked, "I've just become one of Oz's closest confidants, if you blow my cover my body will be chucked into the Thames!"
"It will be approved," Ludwig promised, "I have things that I want to offer to him in exchange for information. Do you know if Oz has any information regarding the kidnapping of the CIA agent, and the gas bombing at the Globe?"
"He's spoken to the kidnappers before, they offered him the opportunity to assist them, but he turned it down." Toby explained. "Then he had his goons follow them around, he should have things that can help the investigation."
"Then that's all I need," Ludwig replied as he and the undercover agent began to walk down the street, trying their best to appear as casual as possible, "I've been given orders to use any means necessary."
"But you do understand that if you try to hurt him; I will defend him," Toby pointed out, "nor will I assist you if you are attacked yourself."
"I understand, you need to keep your cover," Ludwig replied, "What are my chances of negotiating with him? Is there anything in particular that I can use?"
Toby frowned as he turned to lead Ludwig down a dark alleyway, away from any prying eyes, "Don't bother offering him anything financial, he's a drug-lord, he does not care about money."
"I assumed so," Ludwig muttered.
"But, he has had problems getting his cargo across the British Channel, MI6 keep intercepting his load before he can receive it or send it out, half of his men are awaiting trial as we speak," Toby admitted before he knocked his knuckles on a dark wooden door. Suddenly, a section of the door slid open, revealing a pair of narrow eyes that stared down at Ludwig and Toby. "I brought Oz a friend."
The door opened and the man behind the door allowed Toby and Ludwig to walk inside, "You're playing a dangerous game, Kiwi."
Loud music was booming through the walls of the dark and smoky club, people sat around talking, drinking and smoking god-knows-what. Ludwig struggled to breathe through the toxic air as he followed the New Zealander towards a small set of stairs, where a heavily-set man stood guard, however after receiving a look from Toby, he let them through without a word. Despite a door closing behind them, Ludwig could still hear the powerful base of the music as Toby led him up the dark and cramped staircase.
"Oz, you have a visitor," Toby announced as he suddenly changed his posture and his facial expression, fitting the text-book description of a drug-lords right hand man.
"Huh?" Another voice asked as Toby led Ludwig into a brightly lit red-room, decorated with worn out couches, broken electronics, a bar and bags full of what Ludwig could only assume was an illegal substance. Ludwig noticed a tall man standing near the back corner of the room, throwing darts at the worn-out dartboard, he was dressed in a black hoodie and blue jeans, and his head was covered in un-kept and messy dark chocolate hair. The Australian glanced at Toby and Ludwig with dark green eyes as his arm took one large swing, throwing another dart at the board, "I don't remember organising anything, what'd you do, Kiwi?"
Ludwig could tell that he was high on something; he twitched uncomfortably and stared at Toby with a paranoid and menacing glare.
"Oz, calm, he just has an offer," Toby explained, not at all threatened by Oz's demeanour. "Friend."
"Alrightie," Oz chuckled as he walked to the bar, before taking a seat on a worn out bar-stool, "What can I do for you, mate?"
"Go on," Toby whispered to Ludwig as he pushed him forward, encouraging him to take a seat near Oz on a bar stool, with Toby taking a place behind the bar, before preparing a drink for Oz.
Ludwig was glad to see that the double-agent had done such a good job at earning the confidence of a notorious drug-lord.
Ludwig glanced over at Oz, to see him already staring at him, studying him …
"Well… I heard that you have information about the recent kidnapping of a CIA agent, and the gas bombing at the Globe theatre."
"What's it to you?" Oz asked, "You with the CIA?"
"Was," Ludwig admitted, "I work alone."
"Right…" Oz muttered, "What about it?"
Ludwig tried his best to not appear as nervous as he was, but the Australian's stare was destroying him, "I have a lot to offer you, and I don't need much. Just tell me what you know about the kidnappers."
"Heh," Oz chuckled as he smiled widely, confirming Ludwig's suspicions, "yes, those people have spoken to me, asking if I wanted to fucking contribute, heh, what fantasists. I turned them down; I'm a drug-lord, not a terrorist. I like to stay in my line. Besides, I don't want those fuckers ruining my market."
"Well, I can help you get rid of them," Ludwig admitted, "The agent they took is very dear to me, and I will show them no mercy."
"Ohhh, a vigilante?" Oz chuckled, "I think I like you. Kiwi, pour him a drink."
"I'm fine, thank you," Ludwig replied.
"I'd love to help you get those bastards, but you know that I'm gonna need something in return, mate," Oz chuckled.
"I expected that," Ludwig pointed out, "I have friends within MI6, if you need them off of your back; I can buy you some time. Say… a month of unsupervised action, just imagine how much of your cargo you could get across the Channel in a month…"
"Hmm…" Oz mumbled as he rested his chin in his hand, deep in thought.
"If anything, you can only gain from this. I grant you this freedom and protect your market from the terrorists," Ludwig explained.
"Heh…" Oz chuckled before glancing at Ludwig as a crocked smile ran across his lips, "I have an address."
Meanwhile across the city, Gilbert checked his phone and sighed when he hadn't received a message back from Ludwig, however, he trusted that his little brother knew what he was doing.
Gilbert glanced in through the window into the hospital room, to see Alfred lying motionless on the white bed, with Arthur hunched over, resting his head beside the Americans hand.
Gilbert had been informed that there was some kind of relationship between the agents, but seeing them like this broke his heart…
"Agent Beilschmidt?" a voice asked, making the agent turn around to face a doctor.
"Is he going to be ok?" Gilbert asked.
"I'm not going to sugar-coat this…" the doctor sighed, "we don't know. There are so many mixed responses to the gas from all of the other victims. They suffer attacks and seizures with almost no provocation. Over half of the victims of the Globe theatre attack have died, and we don't know how many people had minimal exposure like agent Jones. There could be hundreds of people out there who are ticking time bombs. Whatever those terrorists are using to keep agent Vargas alive, we need it."
"I know…" Gilbert sighed as he glanced back into the room to see Arthur and Alfred, before looking back to the doctor.
Gilbert thanked the doctor for his help before walking into Alfred's hospital room, he silently walked towards Arthur to see that the Brit's eyes were open, and he was staring at Alfred's hand, that was tangled with his own, confirming their relationship to the German.
"Arthur."
Alfred was lying perfectly still, plastic tubes ran out of his nose and mouth, connecting him to a large machine that's loud hum echoed through the room. Despite his situation, Alfred looked as though he was merely sleeping.
Arthur looked up at Gilbert with his tired and drained eyes, it was obvious: this case was killing him.
"We're the only ones left; we need to act, now."
Without a word, Arthur rose from his seat and listened to Gilbert's orders. This was now the time to act, despite their plan being rushed and hindered by the loss of two agents; Arthur and Gilbert knew that they could manage to pull off their plan alone, they just needed to be strong.
Gilbert returned to the MI6 office alone, his anxiety masked by his confident smile as he made his way up to the offices where he and his companions worked. He rehearsed what he was going to say over and over again in his head, despite the constant practice, and Gilbert felt as though he could never perfect it: however there was no time for him to slack off!
"Yao," Gilbert stated as he walked to Yao's desk, startling the agent, "are you ok?"
"I'm fine; I just didn't get much sleep last night after hearing about…" Yao admitted, cutting himself off with a sigh, "is Alfred ok?"
"He's fine, for now," Gilbert replied, "that cure that those terrorists used on Feliciano would be extremely helpful right now…"
Gilbert watched Yao's face change, confirming his suspicions even more, now was the time to pounce.
"You still haven't told me," Gilbert began, "How was your holiday to America? Didn't you go to Washington DC with your family recently?"
"Oh, it was fine, we visited family," Yao replied firmly.
"Funny, I looked at your records; you don't have any family in America…" Gilbert pointed out.
"He was a close friend, he was family to us," Yao admitted, his confident façade crumbling as Gilbert leaned in to question him further.
"Was?" Gilbert asked, "What happened to him?"
"Please, it's personal and our relationship is strictly work-related, so I would appreciate it if you stayed out of my private life," Yao snapped.
"In fact, I'm sure that this is the second time you've gone to America recently, was this also to visit your friend?" Gilbert hissed. "Last time I check, you would have been in Washington at the same time as Arthur, care to elaborate?"
"I don't know what you're suggesting, Agent Beilschmidt, but I don't like it," Yao spat.
Gilbert chuckled as he casually leant forward, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets, "Did you ever meet Agent Feliciano Vargas?"
"No, I had never heard of him before this case," Yao admitted, "I don't have connections to the CIA."
"Then how did you know him when he first appeared on the hostage video?" Gilbert asked, "As soon as he appeared, you announced who he was, like you wanted us to freak out!"
"You tell me about him all the time, and how he is close with your brother!" Yao snapped.
"I take Ludwig's security as seriously as I take mine, I would never talk about his private life with someone as suspicious as you!" Gilbert snapped, "did you really think that someone with a criminal past would be able to make it into MI6 without raising a couple of eyebrows, sure: you had your records deleted, but there are always ways of finding out who someone is! We know it was you Yao, and now we have the means to take you down for good!"
Yao's eyes narrowed with anger, "you have no proof."
"Oh yeah?" Gilbert chuckled, "do you want me to go through the case file, the one that you killed Kiku trying to get?!"
In their moment of intense silence, Yao realised that the time had come, he had been caught … however, instead of giving in; his lips curved into a crooked smile, revealing his true nature as he laid back in his chair, as if he was about to listen to an entertaining story, rather than incriminating evidence against him.
"Go on, entertain me."