Alin- Romania
Agent Fondue/Luca Morgens- Luxembourg
Agent Magyar/Daniél Bajusz- Nyo Hungary
Agent Monte Carlo/Monique Bonnefoy- Monaco
Agent België/Anri Morgens- Belgium
Agent Yogurt/Tsvetan Borisov- Bulgaria
…
Chapter three. Not as much action in this, but plenty of plot development. To be honest though, I thought it would be longer.
...
"This isn't going to be good news, is it?"
Andrei Radacanu was an intuitive young man, and had a knack of knowing what people were going to say before they opened their mouths. Luckily, he was also equipped with the patience to let people finish speaking before arguing back- or occasionally agreeing- which made him slightly less difficult than he could be, much to the relief of those he worked with on a day-to-day basis. He had a strong spirit though, and a somewhat warped view on what was right and wrong, both courtesy of his older brother, Alin. Luckily, he hadn't inherited the older man's unusual fashion sense too.
Unfortunately, over the years, he had developed his own unique and- to those around him- embarrassing sense of style.
His dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and he had a tiny, neat goatee on his pointed chin. A miniature hat rested on his hair, similar to one Alin wore. He was short, but not as aggressive as expected for someone of his stature. He was fiercely protective of those he loved and those under his care though, and had already seen more than his fair share of tragedy for someone so young.
Andrei wore a brown, tweed suit that seemed to age him by twenty years. Though he'd never admit it, he wore it to seem more mature, since the leaders of the other divisions were far older than he, and he was afraid they wouldn't take him seriously if he didn't prove himself to be responsible and serious.
The man sat on the other side of him, Mr Beilschmidt, simply nodded. The tall, neat, and extremely serious young man was Andrei's link with the German government, and he respected the man greatly. After all, he wouldn't be sitting where he was without Ludwig Beilschmidt's help.
The pair had met on several occasions, ever since the taller man had visited his home in Chișinău and offered Andrei a job as head of the newly formed South Berlin Division of the DSA (with the original Berlin division now only in charge of North Berlin) after his assistance in bringing down several branches of the Bulgarian and Albanian mafias. Subsequent meetings rarely bode positive news, usually involving Ludwig informing him of a new an even more dangerous mission to send his agents on.
"I'm afraid to admit that the government was considering forcing you and your agents into early retirement."
"What?!"
"Although," Ludwig continued, "I convinced them to give the DSA South Berlin Division one final chance, there are a few conditions."
"Why would they get rid of us?" Andrei gaped at him in horror, "my agents are highly trained professionals! And who would protect southern Berlin if we were gone?"
"Agent Patch, I'm afraid your agents have had one series of near-failures too many. And the North Berlin division would take over again, with a larger team to manage the city, of course."
"But we've completed every mission set! Even if we're a bit unorthodox- quite ironic for me- we get the job done. So we've had a few setbacks?" He waved a hand airily, "hell, even tonight we've finally tracked down and apprehended the notorious Im Yong Soo!"
"And destroyed half a neighbourhood in the process!" Ludwig growled, "as well as injuring several civilians."
"Oh my God they let Seagull drive," Andrei rested his head in his hands.
"Whilst we applaud your success. Successes, even. We cannot ignore your shortcomings."
"I understand, but still! They can't do this to us!" Andrei cried; "these are our livelihoods you're talking about!"
"You're not jobless just yet," Ludwig gave a small smile, "like I said, you're getting one more chance to prove yourselves."
"Of course, thank you so much!" Andrei considered kissing his shoes, but decided that might be too forward. Plus, he still had his pride.
"With conditions," Ludwig reminded him.
"Ah, right, and those are?"
"Firstly, you are to receive a new recruit. He has recently completed his training and will aid you in your upcoming mission."
"So the government's spying on the spies now?" Andrei raised an eyebrow.
"No, that's my job. Mr Luca Morgens, or Agent Fondue, is independent from the government, like the rest of you; I'll send you his file tomorrow." Ludwig sighed at the other's distrustful expression. "He's just here to help."
"Ah yes, and what exactly will he be helping me with?"
"That's the second condition," Ludwig explained, "you are to be working more closely with the North Berlin division, and you and Agent Magyar will have full authority over the agents in both your groups."
"I see," Andrei sighed, "you're not telling me what all this is for though."
"I'm just getting to that, Radacanu. The third condition is that you devote your full time to the 'Commonwealth' case."
"But Agent Yogurt's already devoting large portions of his spare time to assist Magyar's team. Have they seriously made no headway?"
"Not a lot, I'm afraid. And civilian casualties are still rising," Ludwig rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Agent Monte Carlo's brother was shot dead in his home a few weeks ago. And Agent België's brother was poisoned last year. They seem to have worked out some of the agents' identities and targeting their families, whoever 'they' are. Oh, that reminds me: Agent Fondue is Agent België's younger brother, so try to be sensitive to his feelings. He's still hurting. In fact, I think that's why he decided to go through the training."
"Revenge?"
"It appears so."
"That could make him dangerous," Andrei commented.
"And dedicated," Ludwig reminded him, "he's willing to lay down his life to stop Commonwealth."
"I see," Andrei sighed, "so will you send me the brief tomorrow? Then I can tell my agents everything. Right now, they need to rest and heal."
"They do indeed," Ludwig stood up, "You have a year to complete the mission, or it's curtains. I'm afraid you all have tough days ahead of you."
"Nothing we can't handle," Andrei assured him. Ludwig nodded, seemingly satisfied, and left. The door had barely swung shut when it was opened again by Peter and Franz, who looked very pleased with themselves indeed, despite bandaged arms and dishevelled appearances. Thankfully, Peter had thought to borrow a spare pair of trousers from the HQ's cloakroom.
'HQ' was the name given to one floor of an office building along the River Spree, opposite a similar building on the other side of the river that housed the North Berlin Division. The floor containing HQ was separate from the rest of the building, and inaccessible from the other storeys. The workers on the other floors weren't even aware of this floor's existence. The four, now five, agents of the South Berlin division accessed HQ from a secret entrance in the sub-surface car park, in an 'out of order' lift that brought them up. The interiors were modern, but humble, and agents enjoyed access to a cloakroom, gym, mess room, first aid station for minor injuries, kitchen and toilets, as well as Andrei's office and some bunks, in case any of the agents were too tired to travel home.
"Look who's back, boss!" exclaimed Peter, striding around the desk to give Andrei a hug, who politely pushed him away.
"Sit down you two," he growled, "it's debriefing time."
"Well we did it, boss," Franz began breathlessly; "we got evidence, got Im Yong Soo behind bars-"
"Got captured."
The duo winced.
"It's happened before! But we always get out," Peter winked.
"You ended up in Accident and Emergency because you were both severely injured," Andrei glared at Franz. "And you! Letting Seagull drive an actual car! Do you have a death wish?"
"No, I was just simply unable to use a steering wheel," Franz held up his bandaged hand; "believe me when I say I was truly desperate when I let him drive."
"I'm right here, you know!" Peter butted in agitatedly.
"We're painfully aware," Franz rolled his eyes.
"Besides, my arms were injured too!" he held up his own arms, swollen and covered in plasters, "can someone please congratulate me on driving with second degree burns?"
"Of course, it was a very admirable feat," Andrei smiled, polite but warm and genuine.
"Damn right it was!"
"Nevertheless, we don't have time to celebrate," Andrei told them; "we've been given our next assignment and it'll take all we've got to complete it quickly and with minimal damage and loss of life."
"But-" Peter began.
"Yes, you both can have time off to heal. Then I want you on this case."
"It's not that…"
Andrei sighed, reaching a hand out and resting it on Peter's; "I know you wanted to investigate the Oxenstjärna incidents, but they'll have to wait. Our entire agency depends on the success of this mission."
"I need to know what happened to them," Peter muttered.
"And you will!" Andrei assured him, "but duty must come first. This country needs us, maybe the whole continent, even."
"But why is this mission suddenly more important than the others?" Franz asked.
"Because if we fail," Andrei told him gravely, "then the South Berlin Division will be shut down."
Before the almost certain onslaught of questions from the two agents could occur, the door to Andrei's office burst open and Agent Yogurt fell into the room.
"Andrei!" he cried, "something's… something…" His dark hair was sticking out everywhere, and there were tears streaming down his blotchy face. Even his jumper and jeans were dishevelled, and he wore a headset around his neck, ripped from its socket in the man's haste to reach Agent Patch. Agent Yogurt trembled visibly, shaking hands held limply by his sides.
"Tsvetan?" Andrei stood up, fingertips resting against the wooden desk, "what's wrong?"
"My hu… husband… he's…"
"Alin? What's happened to Alin?" None of the agents had seen Andrei speak so softly before, or so broken and frightened.
"He's… dead! Our children too!" And with that, Tsvetan collapsed on the ground.