The Eye

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The Eye was the best place to be, Graham knew that. If you dropped that name in a conversation, you'd either have people kissing your feet or running for their lives. It was so undercover, so secretive and yet, it had exploded from nowhere – like a virus, right the way across the whole of America. Organised crime – as the cops called it – at its very best.

Graham wasn't anyone special. Born in eighty six. Went to school for a while. Quit school. Like many of the other lads he spoke to, he was also broke. His name (Graham, for god's sakes!) was almost a symbolism of that. Just a normal guy. But that was why he was sitting in the van, driving towards the bank. He didn't want to be normal, a speck of dirt on the pavement, anymore. He was sick and tired of that. He wanted change. Something big.

At first, he laughed when one of his mates muttered something about an 'eye'. It was a stupid name, they might as well have called it 'the mouth'. But that same friend was now powerful, and rich, and had a dozen girls on each arm. There were cops trailing him too, but the point was clear – and the pros outweighed the cons. The Eye would empower him.

He would never be a nobody again.

Graham Mathews pulled the black balaclava over his head as they pulled into the car park. There were three men in the van with him, Perry, Felix and Gavin. They were the same. Background people that wanted a change in line-up. He grinned. They would just pop in, fire a few shots, and come out loaded with cash. Perry would stay in the car, and everything would go smoothly.

He flicked the safety off and pulled his hood up, then slipped the handgun into his pocket.

Time to go.

The Alpha team and the Omega team stormed out of two different vans, but immediately began arguing with each other. It was their only day off in the whole year and instead of partying the day away, they were at the bank because one of them had forgotten to take cash out to buy stuff. They were the two largest units in the C-Squadron of the Delta Force, but also the youngest members ever to join special operations. All in all, there were eleven of them. Five in Alpha and six in Omega.

They entered the building like a pack but the squabbling continued. The bank employees glanced at each other nervously, wondering if they should kick the unruly youths out but the group strode up confidently to a booth, unaware of the eyes watching them, still bickering.

"May I help you, sir?" Asked the woman behind the glass, sweeping over the body of the young man in the front of the group. He was wearing beat up sneakers, but his jeans were tight fitting and his jacket looked completely new. What was even stranger was the dark purple mop of hair he tossed about proudly on top of his head.

The guy stared back at her, his eyes (an almost lilac colour) fell to her badge. He rolled his eyes, "Leanne, babe. I wouldn't be here if you couldn't."

"No, you'd be too busy drinking your heart out." Someone behind him said.

He whipped his head round, "Do you want to stay sober for the rest of the day?"

There was no reply.

"Thought not." He smiled and focused his attention on Leanne. "I need to take out some money."

The woman nodded stiffly and tapped at her computer. "Name?"

"Pollux Kern. Want my number too?"

She nodded.

"It's 078…"

"Your account number, sir."

"Oh!" He didn't reply however, and when Leanne looked up from the screen, she found he was not deep in thought, but staring at the customers who had just come in. A deep furrow marred his features.

Pollux watched the newcomers closely. There were three of them. Good sized guys. Hoods obscuring their faces. They were walking towards the ATM on the left side of the door, completely silently. Behind him Chase and Jackson were still arguing loudly, but their words were more thought out. They were wary of them too. If he were any other guy, Pollux would have dismissed his senses and paranoia and continued with his withdrawal.

But Pollux was far from that. He was the leader of the Alpha Squad and his eyes never missed anything. How the employees had been anxious to get them to leave. How despite her cold appearance, Leanne was actually enjoying being hit on. How the three had passed the four working ATMs outside, in favour of the one inside – closest to the door – on a perfectly clear day. Not only were they silent despite entering together, their shoulders were tense, posture stiff and their hands were shaking.

And there was a gun on all three of them.

He nudged Castellan next to him, keeping his expression controlled and flicked his eyes pointedly at the suspects' direction. The blond nodded and turned away.

"Sir?" The woman pressed. "Is something a matter?"

Schooling himself, he shook his head and laughed. "No, I just thought I recognized a mate." He grinned. "My account number's 29865456789876598765456."

She nodded and went back to her computer, "Just to confirm, you are Pollux Henry Kern, number: two… nine…eight…" She began. Leanne broke off as shots filled the air.

There was the sound of splintering glass. The glass separation in front of the booth cracked over, showering her in shards. Her colleagues' screams filled the air.

"Everybody on the floor!"

Pollux grimaced but obeyed and sank to his knees, not bothering to brush away blades of glass cutting into his legs but kept his eyes trained on the thieves. They were wearing balaclavas, waving the guns around and yelling out orders. He cursed. It was his day off, godammit.

He surveyed the room. Two of the booths were shattered. One of the men was rounding up the employees; the other two were firing warning shots. Amateurs. How many bullets did that leave them with? He met the eyes of his own squad and counted each pair of irises. Chase, Jackson, Gardener, Beauregard, Solace. Pollux gave a small sigh of relief. No injuries. The Omega team seemed to be doing fine as well.

But in the moment that he had taken his eyes off the aggressors, he had allowed his guard to drop, underestimating the robbers. One lunged forward and snatched Chase off the floor. In seconds he had his hand round her neck and his gun at her temple. Her gray eyes were widened in slight shock and her blonde hair was messy and ruffled. She swallowed.

"Leave her alone!" Jackson burst out immediately.

Castellan had his mouth open, a pained look on his face.

Multiple shots rang from different areas of the room. Only one found it's target, burying itself in the sixteen year old's arm.

Graham grinned as the cocky brat fell back from the force, clutching his arm. It was a shame his hands were full, or he would have corrected his companions' aim. The girl he was holding was slowly turning purple. He bit back a laugh. All that bullying as a child, Gorilla-Hands Graham, now that came in handy. One hand easily wrapped round her small neck. Perhaps earlier he might have been nervous, but now? With a hostage and cash in custody, there was no way the Eye would refuse them.

"Shut up!" He barked. "Fill the bag or…" He was cut off. Bullets rang out, ricocheting of walls. He turned, scowling, to glare at the two others.

His jaw went slack. One of the teens, a tall blond, had Gavin at gun point, kneeling on the floor. There was a dark stain on his accomplice's left thigh and his face was contorted into a warped sort of pained expression. The man's bulbous nose was scrunched up and his face was red.

On the opposite side, another teenager, a girl with black shoulder length hair, had Felix on the floor and a steadily growing pool of red at her feet. His other partner had not gotten quite so lucky.

Graham's heart rate quickened.

"Put the gun down," A purple haired guy stood up. "You're surrounded by trained men. Let the hostage go."

He backed away. As if. The moment his gun hit the floor, the police would swarm him – his life would be over. He glanced at the door. The police weren't outside, only inside. He could make it, take the girl instead, give her to the Eye to make up for leaving the money. Yes, it could work. Perry was still outside.

"Put the gun down," Purple-hair continued. "If you let her go, you can get a lighter sentence. A couple years and you'll be out again."

Graham hesitated. What if this was just a fruitless attempt? What if the Eye didn't want the girl? What if he was caught and thrown into prison for a lifetime? Panicking, he loosened his grip on the girl.

That was his mistake.

Immediately, she attacked. Her elbow dug hard into his ribs, making him let go of her completely. As she rolled out of his grip, pain exploded up his left side. Shots filled the air one last time as four bullets found their target – burying themselves in his flesh.

The man cried out. Then he slumped to the floor.

There was a silence in Chief Dare's office as he scrutinized them one by one. Jackson's arm was wrapped in a sling and Chase's neck still held visible bruises from the hostage attempt.

They were the youngest members of Homeland Security, Delta Force and Special Operations combined. And they were practically his own daughter's age. It was something that plagued his mind every day.

He spoke sternly, "You didn't display any specialties, did you?" There would be trouble if the public found out what these kids were.

"No, sir." Kern and Castellan answered at the same time.

Dare tapped his pen against his desk. "You can apply for leave when you want. Today will be counted as service. Jackson, I'm giving you tomorrow on leave, Chase, you can stay."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

They filed out silently, leaving the middle aged man to his own thoughts. If it were up to him, he would not be sending these kids out to Afghanistan next month. But orders were orders, and that was life.

Despite what he had said, it would be difficult for the two teams to apply for leave again. Their shipment next month would mean hectic schedules of training and paperwork, there would be no time. Besides, letting them loose outside the Fort was a threat to national security itself. It would take another year before their day-off to be cleared with all the higher-ups.

He sighed and filled out the thin file.

Kern, Pollux. Leader of Team Alpha. Age: CLASSIFIED

Jackson, Perseus. Sniper of Team Alpha Age: CLASSIFIED

Beauregarde, Silena. Negotiator of Team Alpha Age: CLASSIFIED

Gardner, Katie. Tracker of Team Alpha Age: CLASSIFIED

Chase, Annabeth. Tactician of Team Alpha Age: CLASSIFIED

Castellan, Luke. Leader of Team Omega. Age: CLASSIFIED

Beckendorf, Charles. Technician of Team Omega. Age: CLASSIFIED

Solace, Will. Medic of Team Alpha Age: CLASSIFIED

Grace, Thalia. Sniper of Team Omega. Age: CLASSIFIED

Nightshade, Zoe. Navigator of Team Omega. Age: CLASSIFIED

La Rue, Clarisse. Tactician of Team Omega. Age: CLASSIFIED

Alpha and Omega are a part of Project Red Sigma. Its purpose is to [CLASSIFIED – MUST HAVE LEVEL TEN CLEARANCE].

He folded the file and placed it back in his desk drawer. It was titanium lined, with lead-titanium alloy bolts and an electromagnetic lock. The only way it could be opened was with the Sergeant's key code and fingerprint.

The drawer slid shut. Sealed.