Finally, some action! (I would also like to apologise for taking so long; my buffer ran out and I had to rebuild it. Also, exams.)
As Randall sat in his cell, the first niggling doubts began to set in. What if he were wrong? It was very unlikely, but there was still that minuscule chance that he had made some fatal error, and it would be just his luck if he had.
###
Addison Gibbs was bending down to load the dishwasher when she heard the kitchen door open behind her, and it took her several seconds to realise why this was wrong; it couldn't be Mary, because she was on her music trip, and it wasn't David, because she had heard him leave for work. The car had left and she hadn't heard it come back, which she would have if he had forgotten something.
As it was just dawning on her that something wasn't right, that someone who wasn't supposed to be in the house had just opened the kitchen door, just as she began to turn around, she felt a sharp pinprick on the side of her neck. Instinctively, she gave a startled shriek. Her hand flew up to the affected spot – she heard the breakfast stuff smash against the floor – but it never reached it. Her vision was blurring and darkening, and her limbs felt heavy, as though she were falling, falling away from the world, into an ocean of darkness and confusion and hazy, half-formed thoughts...
###
Across the road, Magnus Vadas was on the move. He had seen the monsters enter the house (in plain daylight, no less! Did these people have no sense?) and had radioed his partners, Erikas Pac and Nadia Kozlov. Erikas was positioned in the back garden, specifically for ease of speed, and as such was the first defence. However, Magnus thought, he would probably like some backup, and so he quickly made his way over to the front door, which was still wide open.
Even as he stepped inside, he could hear the struggle in the kitchen. Erikas shouted something unintelligible and someone else grunted. Something smashed – it sounded like glass. Silently, Magnus moved towards the kitchen door, which had swung shut at some point during the fight. Stealthily, he put one ear up against it, one thick hand curling around the handle.
Suddenly, he heard Erikas cry out, then fall silent, and a sick feeling erupted in his stomach. He burst open the door to find Erikas unconscious on the floor, amid the wreckage of the kitchen. Three of the four monsters Magnus had seen enter the house looked up from there various jobs: One was dragging an unconscious woman Magnus recognised as Addison Gibbs towards the back door, another tying Erikas' arms and legs together. The third was clearing a path to the door. Magnus just had time to wonder where the forth one was, when a blow to the back of the head knocked him out cold.
###
"They've done what?"
Garrastazu eyed Tessa through the screen impassively. "They appear to have taken Addison Gibbs hostage. Vadas and Pac are also missing. Kozlov tells me that Vadas spotted four unknown monsters enter the house, and radioed her and Pac immediately. Kozlov was in the vicinity, but scouting out the nearby area, as was her job. By the time she arrived on the scene, the group were already leaving, and she was outnumbered four to one. She tells me she felt it her duty to remain hidden and report back to me, and I agree."
Tessa was silent for a few minutes. Then, "What am I supposed to tell Boo?"
"Don't tell her anything; there's nothing she can do, and she's better off not knowing. Just be alert; this is bigger than we thought. Oh, and I'll be sending over some more agents for extra security."
"Oh." Tessa thought about Boo, blissfully unaware of her mother's capture, and Rex, whose situation had suddenly become very tricky. "All right then."
She knew it was no good arguing; Garrastazu had already made up her mind.
###
Tessa found Scarlett watching the camera footage, as expected. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she explained what Garrastazu had said. Scarlett was furious. "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Uhhh," Tessa had not expected this reaction. "I guess she knew I would tell you."
"But why didn't she tell me? Why you?"
"Well, I am technically in charge of this mission. It's only standard procedure to give orders directly to the leader."
"I know that!" Scarlett fumed. "But why is she sending more agents, or didn't you bother asking?"
"I already told you that: We need more security now."
"But why?"
"Well," said Tessa, not sure how to respond, "With the situation as it is, I'm guessing Garrastazu feels that Boo is in more danger than we thought. She wants to be on the safe side."
"But we're fine. We don't need backup!"
Tessa stared at Scarlett, confused, and her perplexity at her comrade's behaviour temporarily overcame her dislike. "Scarlett, what's wrong? You've been behaving strangely ever since you arrived. I thought you loved playing it safe, so what's changed?"
"Nothing!" Scarlett spat. "Nothing happened and there's nothing wrong with me, so just leave me alone to do my job!"
###
As soon as Tessa had left, Scarlett slumped down onto her desk, wrapping her pounding head in her tentacles. Why didn't – why couldn't – Garrastazu trust her? So she'd made one mistake, messed up once, and suddenly she found herself here, demoted, and without any power. And now, now, she was to be shown exactly how little faith her superiors had in her. They thought she couldn't handle a mission this easy, when all she'd done since she arrived was work as hard as she could to prove to them that she was still of worth.
They weren't giving her a chance. It wasn't fair.