THE 7TH SENSE

"You're bringing in the Sorcerer division?!"

Anne Young never thought that in all her time with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, that those words would be coming out of her mouth. Or that her boss would even suggest bringing them in for a case that she and Mikael had perfectly handled!

"Not the entire division, no," an older man replied, hand running through his thinning, grey hair. "One of the agents there will be assisting you."

Anne's upper lip twitched into a sneer, and she subconsciously ran a hand through her light brown hair. 'Assisting', what a fucking joke. Her boss may as well have told her that they were brining in aliens, or Iron Man to help them out. On a domestic terrorism case, a fucking domestic terrorism case! This was absurd…

"Sir, forgive me," Mikael started, his tan hands clasped in front of him. "But, do we really need another division interfering with this? We have our suspect, and enough proof for a warrant…"

"And!" Anne butted in, her hand slamming against the desk. "Aren't their members former convicts? They have no formal training on procedure, done no time in Quantico… Why are these amateurs being brought on to a case like this?"

Both of them had heard the rumours about the three new recruits, spread through whispers in offices and gossip at lunches. How they were low-life brats, barely out of college, who'd been caught committing some heinous crime in Philadelphia. No one had a straight answer on what they did, but it was enough that they were looking down the barrel of federal prision time. But for some reason unknown to all, the head of the Sorcerer department managed to get their charges dropped, recruited them, and the higher ups signed off on all of it.

It's un-fucking-believable that the Sorcerer department exists. That they can get the higher ups to sign off on their stupid little wastes of tax money.

Their boss sighed, looking up at them with a withering gaze.

"The modus operandi is unknown, correct? You two haven't figured out how your suspect is going to commit these crimes?"

"Yes, but-"

"That's where this operative comes in," their boss said, adjusting his glasses with two thick fingers. "Mr. Yi has already alerted me to some possible ties to his department's field of expertise. One of his subordinates will be on site in case anything goes awry."

"And for the amateur part… their first mission a week ago was a success. They're not completely unproven."

Anne wanted to object, point out that both of them were trained to use firearms and that one mission meant nothing, but the tap of the case folder on his desk was basically the nonverbal cue of 'no objections'.

The two Counter-Terrorism agents shuffled out of there soon after, faces burning and mouths pinched. They were silent, until Mikael opened the door to one of the balconies hanging off of the J Edgar Building, letting her walk through, before he closed the door behind them.

"Fuck," he growled, long fingers rummaging through his suit pockets. "Fucking ridiculous. Bring in the UFO people to a case of national importance."

"You tell me," Anne replied, as she pulled out a packet of cigarettes, handing one to him.

"Thanks," he grumbled, grabbing a white Zippo lighter.

Mikael lit his cigarette, before leaning over to Anne. She pulled in close, brushing shoulders with him as she pressed her cigarette to his, lighting it. He hummed, leaning against her for a moment before pulling away.

Anne inhaled for a moment, letting herself relax as smoke drifted past her lips.

"What do we do?" She grumbled, flicking her cigaretter against the ash tray.

"I don't know," Mikael replied, looking down at the busy D.C. street below them. "Same shit we always do? If that brat of theirs acts up we can probably just rat them out to a superior."

"I hope they've gotten fired," Anne huffed, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "All of those little shits in that department full of freaks. What the fuck could three ex-convicts offer to us?"

Sadly, the universe could not be kind enough to grant her wish, and the two found themselves standing at the reapropriated breakroom that now served as the 'Department of Sorcerer Affairs'. Mikael strode to the door, knocking on it once. Almost instantly, it swiveled open to reveal the round face of a woman, only in her mid-twenties, looking up at him with a sneer on her face. Her bright, dyed red hair was pulled into a ponytail, and the sleeves of her dress shirt was rolled up.

Before the kid could speak, the familiar languid form of Haoyu Yi approached them, sliding in next to the kid, who glared up at him. Haoyu was slightly dressed down than what Anne was used to seeing from him, losing the suit jacket and the sunglasses. His dark eyes, in contrast to his underling's, seemed warm, inviting. She'd always thought that he was wasted in a department like this, of no significance…

"Mrs. Young, Mr. Obrazov, how nice to see you," he said, deadpan. His dark hair was slicked back per usual, and a faint smile was on his lips. He looked like he should be a movie star. "Glad to see you've been keeping well."

"Same to you, Mr. Yi," Anne said, hands fidgeting. Before she could say anything more, Mikael walked forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her, jaw clenched.

"Is this…?" He questioned, gesturing to the girl.

Haoyu looked over at her, before making a 'go-ahead' gesture with his hand. She sighed, and rolled her eyes before stretching out her hand.

"Sandara Chaoren, Department of Sorcerer Affairs."

The two introduced themselves, shaking her hand. Her grip was firm, shockingly so. Sandara's eyes looked up at the two of them, eyes cold like steel, as if she were studying some object, trying to discover its origins.

"Ms. Chaoren will be assisting you with this case," Haoyu replied, tapping her on the back. She didn't budge. "Don't worry about her, she can handle herself pre-tty well."

Anne did not believe that for a second, but said nothing. This whole exchange had the vibe of 'bring your kid to work' day. Haoyu turned to Sandara, placing his hands on her shoulder, and she glanced up at him.

"Behave yourself," he said, the smile dropping off of his face. Sandara nodded, looking up at him from the corners of her eyes. "You know what happens if you don't."

"Yessir," Sandara said with a nod.

All of their equipment had been loaded into their vehicle already, so after Sandara placed her own suitcase in the trunk, it was time for them to hit the road. Sandara was silent the whole time they drove out of the city, fiddling with something on her phone. At least she was behaving.

Anne huffed, looking out at the trees whipping past as Mikael drove. This was the first assignment in a while where the two of them weren't alone. It wasn't like any of the higher ups would care if they were caught, but she didn't want the brat blabbing to all her lowlife friends.

Speaking of… She looked back through the mirror at her. Still on her phone, but Anne could hear her starting to murmur something to herself.

"I ju-u-ust hope she don't wanna leave me-e-e…"

Singing along to the radio. Anne felt something unclench in her. To be honest, she had expected Sandara to be a little rougher, with face tattoos and piercings and what have you… this kid just looked normal.

"Sandara," Mikael called out, and got a glance up in return. "I want to ask you something."

"About what?" Sandara replied, glancing up at him.

"There's a bit of a rumor about your department floating around headquarters…"

"Oh that?" Sandara said, picking lint off of her shirt. "Yeah, it's probably true. I mean, what crime are they saying I got charged with?"

"Conspiring to commit a mass bombing," Mikael responded.

Sandara laughed loudly for several moments, tears springing to her eyes.

"That's such B.S., I'm sorry," she said, before coughing loudly. "It was theft. All of us were booked on theft. Four paintings, ten pieces of assorted jewelry."

"Oh," Mikael replied. "Hm."

That was the extent of the conversation between all of them. To be honest, the reveal of Sandara's crimes really didn't make her feel better or secure with the kid. If anything, it means she has to watch out for her sticky fingers when they're in the perp's house.

They reached their destination shortly after, a small town in Georgia. Barely even a fucking Burger King or stupid disgusting chain restaurant in the damn thing. Practically a fucking dead zone.

By the time they ended up at the dilapidated apartment building their suspect called home, it was already swarming with police, fire and EMT, their lights almost blinding. As they pulled in, Anne watched as Sandara pushed her head close to the window, looking at the apartment. Her eyes were wide and eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh fuck," was all she said, almost breathless.

Chapter name is from The 7th Sense (일곱 번째 감각) by NCT 127

The song Dara sings is Dark Red by Steve Lacy.

chapters Late bc i was out of the Country please Forgive me