Our huge thanks to: Volcanic Lily, Daughter of Oceanus, booklover1209, StuckInSpace, ForeverBookworm13 and sapphireblood19. Much Love, Peace Out! XD
WARNING: This one-shot is full of OCs and should not be taken that seriously. Apologies stretch to those who would be affected in anyway by this particular one-shot. - AngelicSpring
DISCLAIMER: This fan fic is a collaborative work of AngelicSpring and FascinatingRhythm and they own everything aside from The 39 Clues series which inspired these drabbles and one-shots.
Begin.
ooOOoo
URANIUM (noun): Uranium is highly radioactive. It is used as the main ingredient in a nuclear bomb.
Branch Clue: Ekaterina
"It's a code," he said almost inaudibly, wearing an impassive face. He twirled the ballpoint pen with his fingers, keeping the stoic expression intact.
The General - addressed occasionally as such - resisted the itching urge to smack this good-for-nothing lad in front of him. Of course, it was a code. Everybody age eleven and up could have figured that one out. The General cleared his throat. "Yes. We are quite aware of that, Dr. Collins. Although there is that matter of solving it which requires your attention," he said, looking the nineteen-year-old lad straight in the eye.
Dr. Collins is nowhere near impressed. He did not flinch against the steely glare The General was giving him. "I see," he drawled, looking obviously bored out of his mind. "Paper and pen, if you would please, General."
The General shot him The Look.
"General, sir," Collins tried again, rolling his eyes at him.
The General snapped his fingers and almost immediately, a pen and paper was shoved in the doctor's direction by a neophyte soldier.
Dr. Collins quickly scribbled something that to The General looked nothing more than a compilation of endless scribbles.
"Longitude and latitude, General," Collins said, impatiently tapping the paper with his index finger. "Looks like your enemies are being playful." He said that last one with a mischievous glint in his eyes, looking like someone who knows a dangerous secret.
The General scanned the paper minutely. As he neared the end of the page though, his eyes widened ever so slightly. "Morrell!" he barked at the youngest soldier. Morrell flinched at the sound of his name, immediately putting his hand up in a salute. "Get me a freaking map this very instant!" The General continued, making the soldier scurry on his way.
Collins eyed the proceedings with a mildly amused expression, still playing with his ballpoint pen. The General's back was to him, but it wasn't hard to imagine what kind of face the constantly calm persona in front of him has on. "One more thing, General."
The General kept his ground, not bothering to look at him. "It is uranium, is it not? For their new ace. The nuclear bomb? That thing they were talking about last month?" he asked flatly, his tone steelier and crisper than ever. His words felt like whips being slashed across the room and everybody within a foot radius felt the impact.
"If my calculations are correct," Collins mused, "an entire country could be wiped... off the map."
"All of you are dismissed." And with that, all of the soldiers in the room left.
Collins assessed his words carefully. Realizing that he won't win either way, he stood up and carelessly walked out the door. Hesitating just outside the door, he thought better of it and spoke up. "Your brother-in-law sends his regards, by the way. Most of his message for you is all threat, actually."
"Still mad about your mother?"
Collins shrugged nonchalantly. "You know an Ekat and Tomas could never be." He turned to glare at The General. "But you just had to go for it, don't you... Dad?"
General Collins leaned on the table and stared up at the ceiling wistfully. "If I was stubborn, your mother was much more." He looked at his son meaningfully. "A lot like you, actually."
"So, now you're insulting Mom... and me," the younger Collins yawned. "Never mind, I'm sleepy. I hope Mom haunts you while you think of a clever battle plan or whatever you call it."
"Smart-mouthed," General Collins murmured as he watched the retreating figure of his son. "Always knew the boy had more of your genius blood than mine, Lilia."
He took the paper in his hand again and read the text a bit more slowly. His eyes scrutinized the words that he hadn't noticed when he was scanning it awhile ago.
Below the long list of longitudes and latitudes, the following words were written, clearer than the numbers:
Twenty-four head-start, brother. Twenty-four hours to detonate all the bombs.
Detonate? "What the –"
Further below the message, his smart-mouthed son scribbled more.
I was only kidding about the nuclear bomb. Mom would've seen that one coming.
"Okay. So he had a bit more of my genetics that what was necessary for his attitude," he allowed, heaving a huge sigh of frustration and relief.
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Inspired by A Beautiful Mind – A Movie by Ron Howard
Characters: General 'The General' Collins (Tomas), Dr. Shane Collins and Lilia Collins (Ekat) – OCs
Author: AngelicSpring
Next: Water, an Ekaterina clue, by FascinatingRhythm
You know life is worth the struggle when you look back on what you lost, and realize what you have now is way better than before.
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