Your face is a billboard. Emotions advertize weakness. The weak fall.

- Sasha Bordeaux

An hour after the zoo was breached, an hour after the Texan escaped, Sasha Bordeaux was summoned to the Black King. He couldn't know. Not yet. Bordeaux's terror was like a hard lump of ice in her throat, wafting out in waves, choking her. She swallowed the wedge of fear and it thunked to the pit of her stomach. There, it's freeze burned.

Black King's control room was spacious and prim. The checkered floor gleamed in the wash of light from the wall sized monitor over the desk. The King examined a series of smaller windows on the monitor. In them, he watched past footage of the Texan inmate, the interrogation, and the escape.

Black King hit the desk with a fist. "Run it again," he ordered. The computer hummed as it worked. Black King's seat in power had not softened him. Broad shoulders stretched the fabric of his shirt. He still had the physique of a black field operative. His holster and weapon were on a table behind him. If she thought she had a chance ... Bordeaux's hand twitched for her sidearm ... but she knew better.

Instead, she spread her stance and clasped her hands behind her back, sliding a mask of obedience over her features.

"Sir?"

He didn't acknowledge her right away, rechecking a line of text as it scrolled across the screen. He let out a low curse and half turned. "Data confirms it," he said. "Same energy signature. It's Kord."

"Couldn't be, sir."

"Of course not," he said. "It's impossible. And yet ..." He faced her. She was always startled at how charming Black King looked. A kind mouth. A softness about his eyes. His brown hair was parted to the side making him look more like an accountant than ... well, than what he really was. If she didn't know better, she would have guessed he was an average man. Average looks, average build, average voice.

But it was the little things, tics and cues that gave him away. His tight lipped smile, a smile that never quite reached his eyes. The constant scanning of his surroundings. The edge like a blade to his words. That aura about him. A darkness. A power. It was like the press of the sea. All around. Crushing.

"Something is amiss in my kingdom," he spoke.

Bordeaux said nothing. She kept her breathing steady. Her face smooth. He couldn't know. It wasn't possible. She had been careful. So careful.

"That suit," King went on. "It shows regenerative capabilities. Perhaps he finally got his blasted artifact to work; was wearing it. Perhaps it's ... healed him."

Bordeaux's eyes trailed to the old footage of the Texan in his cell. She had went down to the zoo to make sure; half daring to hope ...

"It's not him, sir. I watched the Texan interact with Peacemaker." she said. "He was Scared. Inexperienced. Couldn't be him."

"And yet Peacemaker is on his way to meet this new Beetle."

"Capture, sir," she corrected.

"Perhaps. Make sure that is all. I've ensured you're part of the retrieval team."

Bordeaux tightened her features to keep the wave of relief from showing. She was still his number one. For now.

"They say it's a boy," she said.

King shook his head, hand rubbing his jaw. "Maybe. An apprentice of his?" A frown slashed across his face. "We're entering the heat of the mid game. I do not need this unknown complicating the board. Go. And keep an eye on Agent Peacemaker. Black Queen seems to be positioning him for something. Dismissed."

"Sir." Bordeaux bowed slightly and took her leave.

Peacemaker glared across the Osprey at Bordeaux. The hold was small. Made smaller by all the equipment he'd requested for the mission. That put him and Bordeaux about a foot apart. The other members of his team were three black pawns, each strapped to the nines with gear. The final member of his team, though not present, was the white pawn Nadia. Peacemaker had tasked her with research for their mission.

When he had stepped out onto the helipad a hours before, it was a crisp morning, sun burning the clouds out of the sky and promising a smooth flight. He'd been optimistic about the mission despite the consequence of failure. The pressure of the field he could handle. Then he'd seen her. Sasha Bordeaux, standing beside the pawns. He hadn't bothered arguing. He only had three days to recapture the Texan and he didn't need to waste precious hours on rivalry. From what he'd seen, Bordeaux was capable enough so she would pull her weight.

But King's Knight. Here. In pursuit of the Texan. Again.

Now soaring over the Atlantic, Bordeaux met Peacemaker's glare with that neutral blink of hers. Apart from the engine's wine and the roar of the wind over the hull, the two sat in silence. Jetlag pulled down on his eyelids and weighed his limbs. But curiosity overcame his need to sleep.

Peacemaker stretched. "Level with me," he called to Bordeaux. "The hell is this about?"

"Simple retrieval," she said.

"Don't talk down to me. Castle's got its panties in a knot over this kid. Why's he so special?"

"He's proven dangerous. A threat ..."

"You were in the room with me," he cut in. "That kid's no threat."

"Then it was an accident that he escaped one of the most secure facilities on the planet?" Peacemaker rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Second thoughts about the mission?" she quired.

His head whipped up. He could almost feel his teeth cracking as he clenched his jaw. "I'll get him. But I'm not blind. This whole thing stinks."

Bordeaux stood and paced to the window at his side. He had to turn to see her properly. Nothing in her tone changed as she called over the engines, "When we arrive, you'll find your answer. Some things are just as they seem." Her eyes darted to the side, towards the front of the Osprey. He knew better than to give in to the itch to look. Bordeaux shrugged, turning back to her seat. "There's no mystery here. Just capturing an escaped prisoner." She settled onto the bench, double checking the supplies in her pack.

Peacemaker waited a long while before finally glancing to the front. The cockpit door was open, allowing a narrow view at the controls and windshield. Beside the door was the dark globe of a camera. It was used to talk to the pilots when the cargo doors were open at high altitude. The camera also linked back to ... to the castle. Peacemaker looked away.

Was she saying they were being watched? If so, why did it matter? And who was watching? No matter how he looked at it, there was no way the Texan kid fit into this.

Some things are just as they seem.

What was Bordeaux trying to tell him? He shook his head and leaned back against the wall to get some shut eye. Still no answers. In fact, he had only created more questions for himself. He let out a long sigh. How'd he get in this mess? He'd been doing fine. On a mission. Doing things his way. No trouble from the castle. Then that kid happened. Peacemaker shifted, repositioning his pack behind his neck as a pillow. He had stumbled into something big. Bigger than he realized. The Kings and Queens were up in arms about it. Black side was turning against itself.

He felt this before. The tension in the air, the crackling of energy before lightning struck, the held breath before a finger tightened over the trigger. A war simmered somewhere, building in pressure, ready to burst. And he had jumped right into the pot.

When we arrive, you'll find your answer.

Peacemaker's heart skipped with realization. Texas. The answer was in Texas. The key to it all. That was what she was telling him. But also something else. He had to step carefully. Peacemaker peeped through a half-closed eye at the camera. His movements were being watched.

1300 local time. No sign of the kid. And the clock was ticking.

Peacemaker was sure Jaime would return to familiar territory. People he knew. People who made him feel safe. Rookie mistake.

The trick was finding out which person Jaime would flee to. Peacemaker propped his laptop on one of the crates of equipment. The hanger echoed with the roar of the runway. While mechanics worked and refueled, he linked up to the castle's network, drumming his fingers on the casing as he waited. Behind him, his team loaded up two modified Hummer H1's. The Hummers were one of the closest civilian vehicles to a military humvee. The model was a few years old but it was worth it for the convertible top. Peacemaker glanced back as his men rechecked the gun turrets mounted in the backs. The sight of the ammo belts and cold black metal gave him a warm fuzzy feeling.

Bordeaux paused at his side, following his gaze to the weapons. "Think it's enough?"

Peacemaker rolled his shoulders. "Got a good look at that armor. He's light infantry. Can withstand light fire, but betcha anything he can't take anti-tank rounds. Downed him once. I'll do it again."

She slung a duffle bag over her shoulder and moved to the cars. Finally, the satellite link connected. He called his white pawn back at the castle and ordered her to start data mining.

"Step ahead of you, muscles. As usual," Nadia piped back. In a window on his laptop, her face beamed out at him. She must have been back in her office since she wore her cat-ear beanie. "Already scripted an algorithm to analyze Jaime's social media networks. It'll compile a list of known associates."

"What'da got so far?"

"Most of his conversations are about video games, cars ... teenager stuff, ya know?" Nadia scratched at her purple hat. Her face scrunched up and her voice lowered. "Why are we going after this kid? He's just ... a kid."

"Give me his top three most contacted associates."

"There's no closet I will not find and no skeleton I will not unearth," Nadia rambled on. "But Jaime's ... Look, are we like, sure about this?"

"The contacts," he redirected.

"But there's nothing-"

"Agent," he barked. "Your place is to answer questions. Not ask them."

Nadia glared. "Chill your shorts, sunshine." A file popped up on his screen. "I just think ..." She pulled her hat over her eyes. "Nevermind." The feed went dead.

Peacemaker hissed out a breath. Whites. So sentimental. He opened the file Nadia had sent. A brief readthrough and he plotted out a strategy. He assigned a pawn to Jaime's house. Another to the hospital to watch the parents. The last he sent to the third most contacted on Nadia's list, a cousin. Bordeaux he sent to the number one most contacted, Paco Testas. Peacemaker took number three on Nadia's list for himself, Brenda Del Vecchio. They spread out to their various positions, their net cast. Now, they waited.

He reread the file compiled on Jaime Reyes for the uptenth time. Reviewed the facts. Rehashed the mission in his mind. Did everything to keep himself focused as he watched Brenda's house.

Various gangs roamed the border between the Mexican Ciudad Juarez and the United States El Paso. But Peacemaker knew that the real threat came from a crime lord known as La Dama. If there was anything going down in this city, La Dama either had a hand in it or knew who did. And because he had been on the task force assigned to this crime lord, he knew almost everything about her down to her favorite brand of toothpaste. So Peacemaker knew that La Dama's deceased sister left behind a child. A daughter. Brenda.

La Dama was a fairly new player. But she had quickly raised flags for Checkmate. Peacemaker had connected at least three arcane artifact thefts to her. Another dozen he couldn't prove. He was getting ready to bring her down. He and his men were in position for a big sting. They were about to catch her buying black market items ... then they got an alert about some unknown meta taking potshots at helicopters.

Some would call Jaime's appearance on that night at that moment a coincidence. Peacemaker snorted to himself. No such thing.

La Dama must have gotten her claws into Jaime through the niece, Brenda. Struggling family. Ambitious young man. La Dama would have seen Jaime with her niece. Maybe she had talked to him a few times. Researched him. Then recruited him to whatever made up cause she thought could snare him. Made him one of her soldiers. A guinea pig for the armored suit.

Shame. Jaime seemed like an okay kid.

While Peacemaker wasn't allowed to use the the La Dama task force for this mission, they were still his men. They agreed to inform him if anyone matching Jaime's description — suit or no — showed up. So with his old team listening on La Dama's chatter, his new team staking out every person Jaime might run to, and Nadia monitoring his contacts, they were bound to get a hit.

Peacemaker ripped open a granola bar and helped it down with a swig of energy drink. A dust-crusted pickup was parked in the driveway. Girl lived with her father. Since arriving home from school an hour ago she made no move. He settled back into his seat.

Peacemaker was used to stakeouts. Some missions called for operatives to be holed up in places no bigger than a closet for days. He was trained to review mission facts. Recheck gear. Clean weapons. Tripple check plans. So when only three hours passed before an agent checked in, he considered himself lucky.

Peacemaker jumped as the radio crackled, a garbled voice buzzing over the line. He grabbed the receiver. "Repeat that, unit one."

"Unit one to Papa Bear. Picked up a blip on the radar. Thought it was a glitch. But I got eyes on the target. Repeat, eyes on target."

Peacemaker's grip tightened on the receiver. Unit one was posted at the Reyes's house. "Standby, unit one. I repeat, do not engage. All units regroup at his location."

Peacemaker peeled out in a squeal of rubber. The GPS predicted eleven minutes until he reached his destination. Already, he could feel the pre-battle jitters. A narrowing of his vision, a tightening in his muscles. The static from the radio and the hiss of the road became muffled. He took a few deep breaths to steady his nerves.

Back at castle, a review board waited. Black King was trying to lure Peacemaker to his side. Bordeaux hinted that someone at castle was watching their moves. If he failed ...

Peacemaker blared his horn as he swerved around a line of slower cars.

He would not fail. Four agents and a buttload of firepower against a rookie kid. There was no way he could fail.

This wouldn't end pretty for the kid. Nadia wasn't the only one sceptical about castle's orders. Peacemaker squeezed the steering wheel. No second guessing. That led to doubts and before you knew it, you didn't know what you were fighting for. Focus on the mission.

It was a simple task; capture Jaime and return him to the castle. He was an escaped prisoner. That's all Peacemaker needed to know. Forget morals. Forget conspiracies. Castle wanted Jaime in handcuffs. And that's what Peacemaker would give them.