Operation Stradivarius: 7 Hour and 35 Minute Window Remaining

I'm going to kill them.

Ming paced from one end of the apartment to the other.

I am going to kill them. I am going to crush Payne's windpipe.

"Babe, seriously, don't worry about it."

Ming turned to where Madison was sitting on the couch. "Madison, they've already dragged you into this by making you their point of contact with me." Ming refused to refer to Madison as her handler. "Now they're having you run ops for them." She looked at what Madison was wearing, for the third time. "And they're not even giving you any training. No wonder the Department has been so successful in the United States, they're just throwing you to the wolves."

"It's not that bad, it's just a simple break in, this is why I didn't want to tell you. I thought you would be at the computer lab all night."

And they want her to hide things from me. "Madison, I love you to death, but you are completely out of your depth here. I am so sorry that I dragged you into this."

Madison looked indignant, "Ming, I don't get dragged into anything. I chose to get involved with this." She stood up and marched over to Ming, throwing her arms over her shoulders. "And I chose to be involved in this because you are the love of my life and I will do anything for you."

She looked down at Madison, their height differences were never more apparent than times like this. Madison wasn't short, she was 5'7, but Ming was extremely tall for a Chinese woman, 6'1. Something about those green eyes… like twin emerald set in her perfect face, whenever they met Ming's, nothing else mattered. Her lips were on Madison's before a thought even crossed her mind, it was instinctual. Payne, the op, her anger, everything but Madison, it all just faded away.

It was slow, gentle, their lips caressing each other, Madison's arms around Ming's neck, Ming's arms around Madison's waist, pulling them tighter against each other. They stood like this for a full two minutes. "Alright," Ming whispered, "If we're going to do this, we do it together. I know what I'm doing, I've been trained for this sort of thing, just follow my lead."

"I don't think Payne would be okay with that."

"Fuck him." If he has a problem with it, I'll kill him.

There moment was interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. "That must be Liam." Madison pulled away. "You're right, I'm out of my depth when it comes to the whole breaking and entering thing, so I brought in someone who knows what they're doing." Who the hell could that be? Ming was desperately hoping Madison was smart enough not to hire a random thug. She was sure that Madison was too smart for that. Still, she thought as she adopted what was known as a passive combat stance and took a steak knife from the kitchen counter, better safe than sorry.

To her surprise, it was Liam who entered when Madison opened the door. "Oh fuck," he said when he saw her, "Please tell me that you aren't in on this fucking yoke."

"Afraid so," Ming discreetly put the steak knife back where it was. "Exactly why you're involved, I can probably guess. Experience from a misspent youth?"

"Something like that." She took in the details of his appearance. She had to admit, he had the right look for second story work. Neutral colored clothing, nothing too bright to draw attention, nothing too dark to draw suspicion. Athletic build, but not overly bulky. He looked like a perfectly respectable young man, which is exactly the look a person wants when they're doing very disreputable activities.

"Alright, so tell me why this isn't what I should be wearing to break into someone's house." That brought her attention back to Madison.

"Because," Liam said, "That's what you wear if you're breaking into a place and you don't want anyone to see you. When you're breaking into someone's house, you don't want anyone to notice you, big difference." He'd just voiced the same concern that Ming had been holding back since she'd come home early to find Madison dressed like that.

"Here," Ming grabbed Madison by the arm, "I'll help you find something to wear, I'll need to change too." Her current outfit would garner too much attention, the price of letting Emma overhaul her wardrobe. She pulled her into their room, Ming technically didn't live with them, but she spent most nights there, and she'd moved most of her stuff over there… Okay, so she lived with them. It hadn't been a conscious decision, at first she would bring an overnight bag, then Madison suggested she keep some clothes there. Then Emma had started shopping for her and she would find new outfits waiting for her every time she came over. Then, as their relationship got more intense, their… encounters occurred more often, and that led to her spending the night more often. Eventually, she started spending more time there than she did at her own apartment.

When they emerged, Ming had put on a dark red tee shirt and jeans with a brown leather jacket. Madison had switched to a purple sweatshirt and jeans. Liam nodded his approval when he saw them. "Much better."

Ming couldn't decide whether to like or hate Liam. This wasn't the first time they'd met, but this was the first time they'd really interacted. He seemed to know what he was doing. But at the same time he was treating them like amateurs, which Madison was. Then she realized, Madison didn't tell him. He has no idea what he's dealing with.

Madison grabbed a sports bag from where it sat next to the couch. "Liam, your car is less conspicuous than my Rocket or Ming's motorcycle, so we'll all just take your car."

Liam nodded, "I was planning on it, what's the address?" Madison rattled it off.

Twenty minutes later, they were pulling up to the curb a block away from their target's apartment building. Liam leaned over the front seat and looked at Madison. "So fill me in on the details. I don't know what you told your girlfriend, but I need to know how this job is going to go down."

I wouldn't mind knowing a bit more myself, Ming thought. Madison had filled her in on the highlights of the op when she'd come home to find her dressed like a cat burglar. Basic surveillance job, get in, go through the place for intel, wire the place, get out. Ming had run a few similar jobs, though she suspected that the Americans would go a bit further than a few basic bugs, considering they had the home court advantage.

Madison kept her face neutral, "We're going after apartment number 314, it's on the third floor. The occupant is in Atlanta and his flight won't get back until the morning. We have a little over seven hours left to work. There's a doorman, but the service elevator connects to the alley running behind the building. It's not guarded and the cameras are dummies." She pointed to an alley, "We enter the alley over there, slip into the service elevator, and take it up to the third floor. The locks are all pretty basic, but if we need the key, there should be one in the custodian's closet."

Liam looked impressed, and despite herself, Ming had to admit that she was too. She's good at this. She'd planned it out pretty well. And at the very least, this shadow group they were dealing with had provided solid surveillance. "Alright," Liam said, "Lead the way."

They got out of the car and made their way into the alley. There was no one out on the street, but that just meant that they would stand out more to anyone looking out their window. They walked casually until they were in the alley, out of view from any possible onlookers. Then they sprinted until they were almost to the service elevator. Pausing, Liam peeked around the corner to make sure that there were no late night deliverymen or random residents slipping out for a smoke. There weren't any. They got into the service elevator, they pulled on their gloves, and Madison pressed the button for the third floor.

Everything was going exactly according to plan, this put Ming on edge. If an operation was going entirely according to plan, then you were usually getting played. The elevator trundled its way up, it sounded like it could really use a good round of routine maintenance. When they finally reached the third floor, Liam pulled the door up. The hallway was clear, doing nothing to assuage Ming's nerves. This is far too easy.

Apartment number 314 was on the southern corner of the building. The door was a different shade than the other apartments, Ming was willing to wager that it had been replaced, likely with something reinforced. The hinges were on the inside, meaning they couldn't just take the door out of the frame.

"Watch the halls," Liam whispered, getting down to examine the lock. "This is a strong lock, way stronger than an apartment in a place like this should have." He pulled a set of lock picks out of his pocket. Ming looked at the other apartments, their locks were different, that meant the lock was like the door, new. Good odds that the custodian's key wouldn't work.

Reinforced door, high security lock, the target's not a pro, a pro would have made sure the cameras actually worked and set up some security in the alley. But he's better than an amateur. She would have to pump some information out of Madison when this was done, preferably in the shower or when she had Madison tied up nice and tight on their bed.

"How much longer," Madison asked.

"Just… another… second… there." The lock clicked open and they all filed in, eager to get out of sight. The interior was what you'd expect out of a cheap apartment, open concept, a living room area connecting to the kitchen area. Two doors on the wall opposite to the entrance presumably led to other rooms of the apartment. It was the lumpy rug that drew Ming's attention, that along with the odd smell and the odd colored places on the walls. She grabbed Liam and Madison by the collar before they could move any further. She got down and pulled up on the edge of the rug, sure enough, there was a pressure plate connecting to an ignition device. The whole apartment was one big firebomb.

"Guy's a lunatic," Liam shook his head.

Madison stayed focused, "Liam, stay out here and keep watch. Ming, help me in the office." Ming followed her through the door on the left, carefully making sure that they didn't step on the pressure plate, and keeping an eye out for any other surprises. Madison closed the door behind them when they were in the office. Then they went to work.

Ming went straight for the terminal while Madison took her gear from the bag. She ran an exploit in the debugging software while Madison unscrewed the cover from the outlet. Jacking into the power supply, must be a long term bug. There was a strong encryption program on the terminal, but Ming was able to crack it. The password turned out to be 'violin.' How Madison had planned on cracking the terminal without her evaded Ming. The files on the computer were most enlightening, possible bombing targets, possible recruits, they were dealing with a domestic terrorist. And considering the language, it was one with ties back to her homeland.

By the time they were done, they'd copied the files from the computer onto a holotape, photographed all the documents in the safe, installed seven different bugs, including a keylogger, and wiped away any trace of their presence. Ming poked her head out and looked at Liam, he nodded the all clear. Their mission accomplish, they exfiltrated, back to the service elevator, down to the alley, and back to the car. And not a single witness.

Guess we didn't need to change after all, Ming thought as she climbed into the passenger seat. Still, better safe than sorry. That phrase had become her motto since moving to America.

The ride back to House Tower passed in silence. When they got back, Madison pressed a stack of hundreds into Liam's hands before they bid each other good night. Liam driving off into the night while they took the elevator back up. The tension in Ming's stomach didn't uncoil until they were back in their apartment.

"Well," Madison said, "That went as well as I could have hoped."

Ming grinned, then pulled her in for a kiss.

"I need a bath," she said quietly.

"And you need to join me."

So Stradivarius is almost done, you'll understand the op name next chapter. I'm kind of liking the whole POV thing, but what do you guys think, is it working out alright? I wasn't originally planning on having a lot of prewar ops, but I kind of like them. Besides that, it's 2065 in the story right now, I've got twelve years of a covert career to cover. And lie I've said, I like writing them.

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