Sorry this took longer than usual to post, lovelies. There have been some computer issues, among other things. I apologize for how weird the plot may become from here. And, once again, may I advertise a Balex one-shot up on my profile? Ya know, if you have any spare time. ;)
Alex resisted squealing and furiously replied, asking for details on Nikita and Michael's situation. She counted every second it took for her to get a reply. What if Nikita had lost the phone she'd gained access, too? What if she was too busy being tortured? Or dead?
This eventually became a stressful though process, and Alex stopped thinking about it and just counted and waited and prayed and repeated.
Six-hundred and forty seven seconds later, the phone beeped, and she opened the phone to read the reply so quickly, she wasn't sure the sound went on long enough for the bug to even register it.
Dungeon ?I think Divison.
"Birkhoff!" she snapped immediately. "Turn off the bug!"
"We've been through this, sweetheart. It's impractical," he droned.
"You don't get it!" she screeched.
"Chill, Alex," Birkhoff frowned, wishing he could see what the big deal was. "All your talking just makes more editing duty for me."
"I don't care if it'll send a strike team after me, just turn off the bug," she demanded.
"Why's that, Alex?" a new voice chimed in. A sultry voice that could be placed with a sultry redhead.
Alex tensed immediately. "Amanda," she frowned.
"What's the hurry, Alex?" she asked. "Places to be?"
"Things to attend to," she replied. Mentioning Nikita's troubles was out of the question, lest they both be killed.
"Why can't we listen in?" Amanda inquired.
"A girl likes her privacy," Alex answered coolly. "You're a girl, last time I checked. You should know."
"Meow," Birkhoff cut in.
Alex rolled her eyes.
"Well, I wouldn't want to stop you from attending to your . . . things," Amanda drawled. "How much of a racket do you think that would make?"
"Quite a bit," she answered honestly.
"You'd prefer privacy, wouldn't you, Alex?" she prodded.
"What're you getting at?" Alex scowled.
"You don't want the bug, I assume," she began. "Even if you're not doing anything controversial, you don't want us to hear whatever you're doing, isn't that right?"
". . .I suppose."
"Well, then how about we take those bugs out of you?"
Alex didn't even take time to get hopeful. Amanda was too slimy.
"I'm willing to have the bug extracted," she explained, "as soon as you do something for me."
"Isn't that my role at Division as it is?"
"I'm glad you think so," Alex could practically hear her smiling.
"Just tell me the assignment," she barked.
Amanda got right to it. "Your target is Maximus Liverfield. He's in the ranks of a French political organization. They don't have any particular beliefs, but when they find something they believe in, they express their ideas quite violently. Knowing this, Liverfield is heavily guarded most of time. However, all people get at least some privacy, right?"
"So I've heard," Alex groaned.
She heard a round of static she took for a chuckle. Amanda continued, "Your assignment is too invade that privacy."
"Well, I've learned from the best."
She ignored her. "Liverfield is allowed a certain degree of privacy when he's in the bathroom or . . . or in the company of a lady."
"The company of . . . what are you suggesting?"
Again, ignored. "Of course, you probably won't be able to get within fifty feet of Liverfield with any sort of weapon easily, but from a few trusted sources, we've learned that once his trust is earned, he let's you do almost anything without guard scrutiny. But I'm not sure trust is the right word. You're to earn his . . . acceptance."
"How am I supposed to earn that?" Alex asked.
"Low cut tops and high-hemmed skirts," Birkhoff cut in.
There was a pause, then Amanda said tightly, "Gold star, Birkhoff."
Another pause, then both Birkhoff and Alex exclaimed, "What?"
"Your job is to seduce Liverfield," Amanda stated matter-of-factly. Alex was about to protest, but Amanda cut her off. "You might want to know that Liverfield lost his wife on their second anniversary. You does not develop relationships easily. Usually, he aims for the physical first and the emotional comes along later, if at all."
"You sound like you speak from experience," Birkhoff cut in.
Amanda ignored him. "It is common in Divison for its agents to be asked to perform varying types of mission. This includes those involving physical relationships with targets. Alex, you will probably be asked to. . .well, I'm sure you can connect the dots."
Birkhoff, who was sipping a Red Bull, promptly spit it out all over his computer screen.
"No," Alex barked. "No. Not . . . just, no."
"Have it your way," Amanda said. "Bugs stay until further notice."
But Nikita . . .
"Wait," Alex protested. "I . . . I . . . Fine. Okay."
"What?" Birkhoff exclaimed. "Alex, are you listening to yourself?"
"Stay out of this, Birkhoff," she said harshly.
"Don't sound so shocked, you two," Amanda said. "This is a part of being indebted to Division."
"I have never once been asked to do this, Amanda," Birkhoff pointed out coldly.
"Well, that's understandable," Alex scoffed.
"You know, I'm defending your morality," Birkhoff complained flatly. "You might want to show me some respect."
"Well, that doesn't change your personality."
"Your banter is charming," Amanda droned on. "As I said, Alex, once you complete this mission- and not just the hard parts, actually getting the intel -the bugs should come out. We plan to start the mission next Friday, so-"
"No, let's start it now."
There was a surprised pause, which probably registered as shock under Amanda terms.
"Why the rush?" she asked slowly.
"Let's get this over with."
She could almost hear Amanda smirking from the speaker embedded in her skull. "Very well. Come by in an hour."
There was no hanging up to do on Alex's part, so she just let the silence comfort her. Until it was shattered by her embedded nerd voice.
"What are you doing, Alex?" he demanded.
Alex ignored him and began leafing through her magazine again, though there was no point to her timed silence anymore. She should be good. She should be quiet.
"Alex, I know you can hear me."
Nothing. More leafing.
Frustrated with the women in his life, Birkhoff bolted up from his computer, along with microphone that came with it, and started pounding out of the room. He wasn't sure where Amanda was, but he had some things to say once he found her.