Chapter 7: Smooth Pickup
"So," Claes said as she poured steaming tea into two plain porcelain cups, "Triela tells me that the two of you have developed over the past week into exceptional operatives. How are the madeleines, Celestina?" She passed the cups across her table to her two guests.
"They're perfect," Celestina answered brightly after swallowing a small nibble of one of the buttery, petite, shell-shaped cakes, "Try one, sorella."
"Grazie," Caterina told her sister as she took the madeleine offered to her, "What else did the Princess say about us, Claes?"
Claes sipped her tea and calmly placed the cup and its saucer down before her before answering. "Well, she tells me that both of you are quick learners and you work together very well. Using her words, she says that you move 'as one' in perfect harmony."
"That can't be all," Celestina responded doubtfully as she reached for another cake, "She must have given us some criticism."
With a careless wave of her hand, Claes answered, "It's all the usual things that Triela complains to me about: you don't follow directions too well, you don't have any respect for authority, you use unorthodox methods, et cetera, et cetera." Then, Claes leaned across the table and whispered mischievously, "Also, she still has trouble telling you apart."
The Twins giggled in amusement. "That's because of the new game we came up with," Caterina said, "It drives her mad!"
"Game?" Claes said interrogatively, highly interested and just as entertained by the idea as the other two girls in the room.
Celestina explained enthusiastically, "My sister and I usually wear identical dresses (they're all we have, you see), but we wear our hair differently to fool Triela into thinking we want her to be able to tell us apart."
"Sometimes when she turns her back or loses sight of us, though," Caterina continued, "We switch hairstyles, but still respond to our proper names."
Claes shook her head, smiling. "You're terrible," she laughed, "Both of you." They all chuckled for a little while and afterwards Claes asked the Twins, "Are you nervous about your first assignment?"
"No," they both said simultaneously, "We're ready."
"We're a lot more disciplined than when we first came here," Celestina said.
"Obviously we've gotten our sugar addiction under control," her sister added.
Claes scoffed and said, "Sure, after four more late-night parties and sugar-induced comas. Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find the two of you to be quite enjoyable company."
The Alvise Sisters raised their tea cups and nodded their heads in silently egotistic thanks. At this moment, Triela entered the room, crossing briskly to her drawer so she could withdraw her pistols and bayonet. Her face was stern and she moved stiffly.
"Triela," Claes greeted her roommate warmly, "Sit down and have some tea with us."
"No time," Triela responded curtly, sheathing her bayonet. "Celestina, Caterina," she addressed the Twins commandingly, "We're leaving in fifteen so get your gear and move." With this, she left the room, picking up her jacket from the bunk on her way out.
Claes and the Twins followed Triela with their eyes as she shut the door loudly. There was a pause, and then Caterina asked Claes, "That's not normal, is it?"
Claes sighed and answered sounding worried, "No. Until recently, Triela would always leave for a mission with a smile on her face. Now, she… she has things on her mind."
At this, the Alvises smirked at each other and rose from the table, leaving their teacups half empty. "That's alright," Caterina said as they made for the door, "We understand.
Claes cocked her head slightly and said quizzically, "I'm sorry?"
"We know when we're not in the loop," Celestina answered, "It's not our business to get involved with our teacher's personal problems anyway."
"We'll see you when we get home, Claes," Caterina said sweetly, waving as she closed the door behind her.
Claes stared after them, eyebrows slightly raised. After a while she rolled her eyes and began cleaning the table. "Now who did that remind me of?" Claes mumbled to herself.
After the Twins had prepared for their first mission, they were taken to the Piazza della Rotonda in Rome by Triela and Hilshire. The three girls stood out in front of the fountain which was decorated with distorted faces and warped dolphins. The imposing pillars of the Pantheon loomed over them, impressive and forbidding even in the light of the afternoon sun's zenith. Tourists crowded the area more heavily than the pigeons, snapping pictures and talking merrily.
"We're going to have to be really careful about this," Triela commented confidentially, "Only draw your weapons if it's absolutely… oh, right, sorry."
After a little more than a week of being at the Agency, Caterina and Celestina still hadn't updated their wardrobe, and as such, lacked clothing appropriate for concealing firearms. Because of this, they had essentially brought their sidearms for no reason and had to leave them in the van with Hilshire, who was watching the plaza from a distance.
"You couldn't at least give us knives?" Caterina asked indignantly.
"We haven't covered knife play yet," Triela answered, "It would painful for me to watch the two of you swinging them around without knowing what you're doing. You'll just have to manage. Besides, you shouldn't need guns to back me up on this abduction. I've got all the firepower necessary. Are there any other questions?"
"Umm…" Celestina questioned, "What are these for?" She was awkwardly clutching a large bag of breadcrumbs, trying not to spill them. The birds in the immediate area were eyeing her in interest.
"They're for your camouflage," Triela responded, "Feed the birds, have a fake conversation, laugh at nothing in particular; do whatever you can to make it look like you're just two little girls having fun in the plaza." She checked her watch and reported hurriedly, "Okay, the target should be here soon. I'll pick him up at gunpoint while you two keep an eye out for suspicious activity. If you have to communicate, try to do it subtly, understand?" The Twins nodded and Triela finished with a confident, "Okay," as she walked off and began to wander through the crowds.
This isn't what I had in mind for our first mission, Caterina complained.
Too bad, Celestina retorted, Because this is what we're getting. Just stay focused. Feed some birds. She gave her sister a handful of breadcrumbs and both began throwing them at their feet. Immediately, flocks of pigeons swooped in and swarmed the scraps. The girls huddled closer together, pretending to be amused.
Your laugh is so fake, Caterina mocked her twin.
Your smile looks Botox-induced, Celestina shot back without missing a beat.
Both girls began nudging each other, lightly at first, but with increasing force. Caterina took a breadcrumb and placed it underneath the sapphire ribbon in Celestina's hair, causing several birds to hop onto her head and shoulders braving her arm flapping and annoyed cries. Caterina pointed and laughed, "I think I preferred the bluebirds, Biancaneve!"Her giggling was cut short, however, when something small and hard struck her on the back of her head. She clutched the point of impact and looked in the direction that the projectile had come from. Caterina saw Triela standing and staring at them angrily, tossing a pebble up and down in her hand.
By now, Celestina had managed to shake off the pigeons, just in time to nod her head in unity with her sister in an apologetic manner, as if saying, "Alright, we'll get back to work, sorry Ma'am." At this, Triela faded into the crowd again and kept meandering.
As Celestina readjusted her hair ribbon, she paused. Hey, she mused to her sister, Do you see that man over there at the café, in the red striped shirt, reading the book?
Caterina stole a quick, inconspicuous glance and spotted the person that Celestina was referring to. I see him, she answered.
He's been on the same page for ten minutes now, Celestina said suspiciously.
There's another one here, Caterina reported, ten meters away, on your six, wearing a black double-breasted jacket. He's on his phone, but his mouth isn't moving. He hasn't said a word into it.
Look, the Princess has the target, Celestina told her sister. Triela was pressed up against a middle-aged grey-haired man's back, her hand held low and close against him to conceal the pistol being held to the target's body. She led him toward the van, getting closer to the man on the phone.
When they get close enough, Caterina predicted, The guy on the phone's going to draw his gun.
And when Princess turns to take a shot at him, Celestina continued, The target will draw his weapon, taking her back. The man at the café will close the distance to surround her.
A plan formed between the Twins instantly, and both moved to their positions as quickly as they could without drawing attention. The man who had been pretending to read had stood up and began to move toward Triela. Caterina moved to intercept him, while Celestina approached the target.
In a flash, the man formerly on his phone reached into his jacket and drew what looked like a cheap M1911 knockoff. Triela saw this and reacted quickly, turning away from her detainee to take aim. At the same time, the man at the café reached down and drew a small snubnose pistol from an ankle holster while the target that was previously being held up withdrew a Beretta from underneath his cream-colored dress jacket. Triela was trapped between two guns, with a third approaching to further seal her fate.
She double-tapped the phone-man, putting one bullet through his head and another through his throat, causing him to collapse lifelessly. There was a scream and the crowd of tourists scrambled, some for cover, some to get out of the area, and some with no particular direction whatsoever. Fortunately for the SWA agents, the chaos made it difficult for the bystanders to comprehend what was happening.
The former detainee swung his arm wide, preparing to press the barrel of his firearm to the back of Triela's head. She turned to try and save herself, but she could already tell it was too late. Luckily, Celestina stepped in at this point, blocking the target's arm just short of being level with Triela. In a panic, he fired off two shots into the crowd, so close that Triela's cheek felt the warmth of the muzzle flash. Celestina slammed her right fist into the target's midsection and finished him with a powerful left hook that caught him just underneath his right ear.
The bodyguard posted at the café had closed the distance now, and with his employer unconscious and out of the way, he had a clear shot at Celestina and Triela. He outstretched his arms and tilted his head to line up his targets with the sights of his weapon. The bodyguard squeezed the trigger, but the round went upwards, toward the sky as Caterina seemed to materialize beside him, giving him a swift and powerful kick to the side of his knee, breaking his leg. As he fell towards her, she smashed his temple with a vicious downwards swipe using the back of her fist.
We have to move, sorella! Celestina called to her twin in a rush. Immediately Caterina rejoined her sister and Triela, the former trying to conceal the latter as she bound their target's wrists together with PlastiCuffs. Triela picked the unconscious man up and dragged him quickly toward the awaiting van with dark, tinted windows and fake license plates. The plaza was completely empty now, and dead silent save for the trickling of water from the mouths of the faces and dolphins on the fountain.
Despite there not being any sign of life whatsoever, there was no doubt in Hilshire's mind that there were witnesses watching what was happening right now. There was nothing anyone could do about them at this point, but the Agency would make sure that the media coverage of the incident would be controlled. "At least there's that," Hilshire tried to console himself, to prevent this mess of a mission from being a complete failure in his mind.
The Twins opened the van's backdoors and Triela threw their target roughly into the back. The three girls jumped in with him and slapped the doors behind them. "Let's go!" she called to Hilshire, who caused the van to speed off without a word. He was tense, obviously, and clearly trying to hold in whatever angry comments he had.
Luckily for him, however, the Twins were happy to express his frustration for him. "Dio mio, that mission went F.U.B.A.R. fast!" Caterina gasped.
"Is it like this every day?" Celestina asked, sounding exhausted.
Triela almost laughed, relieved just to have survived thanks to her two pupils. "Not quite," she said in good humor, "We obviously need to work on our timing, though."