A/N. Carly's on her first assignment for Hydra-Contact Elephant Boy at the Governor's Ball and bring him in.
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Chapter Four

Some kids wandered over to the table, friends of Lance's Carly supposed, and pulled his attention away.

"OMGerd," breathed Becky, leaning into Carly. "You two are like practically dating. And when the hell were you going to tell me you once lived in Paris? I am so jelly right now I could melt."

Carly grinned guiltily. There was a lot Becky didn't know. "It was more like a summer vacation. Have you found your target yet?"

"Hmm." Becky checked her app and scanned the room. "There. Back corner. All alone."

"Then what are you waiting for? Go. Scoot!"

"But—

"I won't let them miss your plate. Now hurry so you can get back for the food."

Finally, she was alone. Phase 1 of Operation Footstomp complete. She was in, passed the sniff test, and had made contact with her target.

After a few minutes of polite convo, asking schools and cities and whatnot, Carly slid out of her chair and sidled over to Lance who had just said bye to his friends.

"Hey," she said, coy as she could be.

"Hey." He batted his deep grey eyes at her in a withering gaze.

"Just wondering. I don't know anyone here but my friend Becky, and she's already run off, the big flirt. I was just hoping you could maybe introduce me around. You look like someone who knows a lot of people."

"Uh." He looked at the table, where breadsticks awaited. "Sure?"

Carly made sure Lance took her arm in his. She turned her charm up to 11. Eye contact. Body position. Her clothes were specially designed to radiate heat, although it left her a bit chilled. But to him, she'd feel warm. Positive facial expression, childlike and trusting. And of course the pheromones and other chemicals designed to supply comfort and compliance. All the right words. Gratitude. Flattery. Vulnerability. Hide in plain sight. Hopefully he'd be receptive. Right now, she was the cool new toy to show off to the room.

Carly steered him away from the Governor. No need to further question her cover story. Also, the Gov was surrounded by state officials. Only needed one to smell something foul. A uniformed dude eyed her. She clumsily dropped her purse. There. Smile stupidly. She's a bimbo. No threat there. Just another starry-eyed status seeker getting her five minutes with Richmond's most eligible boy. See? Already back at her table, Becky too. Just two gawkers in over their heads in Big Society.

Meal served. Organic veal. Was that really a thing? Wait—she was evil. Her banquets would feature the actual butchering of the calf. Yeah. Let people really see where their food comes from, not from this bull-crap pretention. She'd be an honest evil. 'Cept for all the lying. But deceit was one thing, hypocrisy another. She wasn't going to be pretend-evil like these guys were pretend-good. Not a goddamn organic thing at her banquets. 100% stolen goods. That's how true evil rolls.

The banquet came to a harmless end when the Gov began speaking, all about how proud he was of the state's citizens. Blech. Look at all those boys lined up for the military, to become part of the evil empire that was the modern warfare machine with the Starks supplying the weapons. These were America's finest. All boring quarterbacks with their perfect girlfriends. Except that one over there with the long hair and unshaved face. Oh wait, he was with his boyfriend. Not going to have much luck there.

Then came all the sports and academic scholarships for VT and UV and ODU. Yawn. Carly hoped to spend her college years on missions, learning first-hand about the world. An evil Peace Corps if you will, sowing dissent and unrest around the world. She needed to get through tonight first.

Finally, dance time. A DJ kicked up tunes, tables and chairs cleared, and no more formalities. She and Becky hit the floor. The key was to look available, but not either weird or desperate. Don't put on fancy moves. Just like like a high school kid out on her first big dance. Which she practically was. A few guys joined in their little circle. Carly studied the room. Lance was aloof, sort of declining invites, sipping a cola. She couldn't approach him just yet, too obvious. Long-hair gay dude was talking with his boyfriend—more like a lover's spat, gestures and postures. Boyfriend stormed away. Dark boy looked darker.

Carly left Becky with her "assignment" which seemed to be going over well, both smiling and exchanging words in each other's ears over the din of the PA.

Long-hair boy stood with hands on his hips, biting his lip in a super-sexy way. Too bad he played for the other team…in more ways than one. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied, barely acknowledging her, like she was the staff cleaning his plate.

"Plenty of more fish in the sea," she said, wincing at the line.

"If you're fishing, you're in the wrong lake," he replied. But at least he looked at her.

"Come on, dance it out."

"You trying to help me forget him?"

She snatched his hand and led him onto the dance floor. "Nah. I need your help to make the other boys jealous." Or maybe Lance. Like he'd notice.

Finally, a grin, nice white teeth. "Of you or me?"

She returned the smile. "Let's see where it goes. Name's Carly." She held out a hand.

He took it, warm and firm. "Larry. I know, not the name you'd expect from brooding gay guy."

Soon they were on the floor. He swayed with the grace of a Russian ballet dancer mixed with the best hip-hop moves. Carly kept up with her own nimble moves, part extra strength, part combat training, but now they were attracting too much attention. "Thirsty?"

"Sure." Larry led her to a table in the back corner where it was nice and dark and shadowy, as if he'd known exactly what she wanted. He left for a moment and returned with some non-spiked punch. The goodness in the room overwhelmed her at times.

"So what brings you to this soiree?" he asked. "You're not a candidate or a scholarship."

"Just a guest. Nothing special. You?"

Larry gave a wistful smile. "Marines. Officer training. Quantico. I start in a couple weeks."

Carly glanced at him. Tough assignment. "You scared?"

Larry shrugged. "Dad was one. Brother's one. Family thing."

Carly reached out and touched his hair. "Hate to see this go."

He half-smiled. "Duty calls."

Her heart went out to him. "I know what you mean. I'm kind of doing the same thing. Going to stay in the family business. It's my life. I think you'll be a great Marine."

He nodded vaguely. "Yeah, I guess."

There. Maybe a crack. A non-traditional boy, full of fears and uncertainty. "You know, if the whole Marine thing doesn't work out, there are options if you like that kind of thing."

Larry's eyes widened. "Oh? And what would you know about it?"

Carly scooted her chair closer. No need for prying ears. "Well, you've heard of organizations like Blackwater and S.H.I.E.L.D., right? My family belongs to another one. We're not mercenaries, we're not owned or supported by any government. We set our own agenda. And the best thing is that we're not a bunch of bigoted fools. We accept everyone."

"Are you making this up? Sure. Tell me all about it."

"I can set up a meeting if you want. You can name your own ticket. You want to be a Marine, we can support it. You want a foreign post, we operate in most countries. You want a harem of scantily-clad men to do your bidding…well, we're not the kind of organization that frowns on such things. We believe in the power of the individual. All we ask is allegiance."

"Ha ha. Next thing, you'll want me to say, 'Hail Hydra.' Come on, is this for real?"

His mocking stung but she brushed it off. No one on the outside really understood. It wasn't as much allegiance to an organization as much as allegiance to yourself. No limits. No government. Just pure self-interest, once you paid your dues.

"Like I said, it's just an option. You work for us, and everything is paid for. Food, lodging, education, officer training. Just like the Marines but without all the BS."

"I'll think about it."

Carly followed his eyes to where he'd been gazing for the last few minutes. "I don't know, Larry. Lance Conrad?"

"If I could just get him alone for five minutes."

"I'm thinking the same thing." They looked at each other and laughed. "You think the rumors about him are true?"

"Rumors?"

"Nevermind."

"You mean like how he's secretly Elephant Boy? Five minutes and I'd find out."

Carly's draw dropped. "Larry, you are evil."

"So are you. You're eying him same as me."

Evil. Yes. She couldn't forget her assignment.

"Well, I guess I'm going in then. Wish me luck."

"Nice meeting you, Carly."

Carly took his hand again, gazed in his eyes which held some kind of undercurrent of pain. Larry had secrets, more agonizing than just his partner preference. "You too, Larry. And don't forget what I said. Our doors are always open."