I know this may be a little repetitive, but another thank you to Shishou for betaing this chapter! Seriously, they're awesome

There are few things in the world that Loid despises more than politics. It corrupts souls, axes efficiency, obstructs justice – and don't get him even started on the red tape that it generates. There is a saying that politics has claimed the lives of more men, women, and children than money ever could. Loid isn't entirely certain about the veracity of the saying, but considering how the war between Ostania and Westalis was started over a diplomatic fiasco, he's rather inclined to agree.

And it's about to claim another life.

"You want to do what now?" The tinny voice of his handler, Sylvia Sherwood, is filled with incredulity as it sounds from the tiny speakers of his encrypted portable communications device. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but it sounded like you just asked for WISE to aid you in conducting a covert attack on the headquarters of the Garden."

"That's what I said."

"Agent Twilight, you do recall that the treaty is about to be signed in less than a week, yes?"

"Yes."

"And you have not suffered any intensive head injuries that impaired your mental faculties?"

"No."

"Then you'll understand why my answer is a no. Hell no. An emphatic no! Why would you ever even think I would agree?"

Loid grits his teeth. "They kidnapped Anya!"

"And you have my deepest sympathies for that. But she is but only one child, Twilight. The signing of the treaty will save millions more."

"But – "

"But nothing," Sylvia declares firmly. "WISE launching an unsanctioned operation on a secret wetworks organization on Ostanian soil would practically be a signed declaration of war. You might as well send a notarized notice at that point!" She sighs. "For what it's worth, I understand where you're coming from. However, you must remember that ultimately, Anya Forger is only a nonessential asset. The success of the mission is paramount."

Loid doesn't say anything.

He can almost hear how Sylvia narrows her eyes. "Twilight..."

When he speaks, there is ice in his voice. "Handler, I am once again requesting tactical support and armaments in launching an attack on the Garden's headquarters."

"And my answer remains the same. No. Stand down, Twilight. That is a direct order. We cannot risk an international incident so close to the signing of peace."

Loid takes a deep breath. Holds it. Exhales.

"Loid," he says suddenly.

"Pardon?"

"My name is not Twilight. It's Loid Forger."

There is a long moment of silence. When Sylvia speaks again, her tone is quiet. "Are we really doing this?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess we are."

"You do understand what this means, don't you?"

"I do."

"Why?" She demands harshly, frustration coloring her tone. "It makes no sense. Anya Forger is not worth the lives of millions. You spent the past several years working to ensure the success of Operation Strix. And now, with peace so close, you're willing to throw it all away? Just for one little girl? Why?!"

Loid doesn't respond for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I admit, I'm not perfect. I'm manipulative, I lie constantly, and apparently my taste in music is downright horrendous." He smiles. "But as wanting as I am, even I know that a man doesn't need a reason to protect his daughter."

Sylvia inhales sharply. "You..." She trails off. "You're absolutely certain you wish to do this?"

"As certain I can be."

"Then I'm afraid I have no choice," Sylvia says sadly, sounding resigned. "Agent Twilight, I'm placing a burn notice on you. You're blacklisted." In the background, he can hear the sounds of frantic chatter and typing coming from the other analysts in the room. "You are hereby dismissed from WISE and officially labeled an enemy of Westalis with a significant bounty on your head. I suggest you remain where you are and surrender peacefully."

"Hmm... No, I don't think I will."

"I thought not," Sylvia sighs. "Then, WISE agents will be instructed to bring you in."

"Yeah, about that..." Loid's gaze hardens. "No."

"Excuse me?"

"With the secrets I hold, it would be very, very easy for me to collapse Westalis. It would be such a shame if the SSS received any of the intel, don't you think?"

"... you're insane."

"I'm desperate," Loid corrects. "My daughter has been kidnapped by a secret paramilitary organization, and I have enough on my plate already to worry about WISE or its politics."

He hears Sylvia let out a long breath. "Fine. WISE won't do anything – but you're still out. By the end of this hour, the entire intelligence community will know that you've been burned."

"I'm counting on it," Loid says. "Goodbye, Handler. It's been an honor."

"You're going to die," Sylvia suddenly hisses. "Your combat skills are good, but the entirety of the Garden is several levels above your paygrade. You can't possibly think you can take on all of them in enemy territory by yourself with no backup."

"It's a good thing then, that I have the Thorn Princess by my side."

"Wait, what-?"

He disconnects the call with the press of a button.

「」

Yor immediately accosts him once he exits the room. "How did it go?"

"As I expected, she refused to help," Loid says. He doesn't blame her; if he was in her position, he would do the same. "I got what I was looking for."

"She burned you?"

Loid nods. "With WISE having disavowed me, even if I do get caught, the signing of the treaty won't be affected. From here on out, all my actions are to be regarded as that of a rogue agent." He hesitates, knowing she's not going to like what's coming next. "We should meet with Franky first."

Yor narrows her eyes. "We've already wasted enough time. You want to delay even more?"

"We need information," Loid says. "I know you're worried, but rushing in blind won't accomplish anything except land us in an early grave."

"I'm a Garden operative. I can give you the information."

"On every single member? I thought you only worked with the Manager and the Shopkeeper before. The identities of the others are hidden even to you."

Yor grits her teeth. "They don't matter."

"They do," Loid says resolutely. "I wish to save Anya just as much as you do, Yor. This is just the optimal way to maximize our chances of success." He stares into her eyes, trying to convey the importance of what he was saying.

Yor relents. "... fine."

「」

"You goddamn fool!"

The moment Franky steps into the apartment, he immediately zeroes in on Loid, stomps over, grabs him by the tie and yanks him forward to scream in his face.

"What the hell did you do to get burned by WISE? How in the world did this happen?"

"So news has gotten out already," Loid muses.

"Of course it has! The entire intelligence community is in an uproar!" Franky rants. "Last I checked, Zoa is celebrating, the BGK is trying to figure out if they can recruit you, and the SSS is running around like chickens with their heads cut off! It won't be long before all the bounty hunters come out of the woodworks for your head. I've seen the bounty and damn even I was tempted for a second! What did you do?!"

"I needed WISE to burn me so I can act freely," Loid answers.

"To do what?"

"To attack the Garden headquarters."

"..." Franky rubs the bridge of his nose. "Start from the beginning."

"We don't have the time," Yor says. Franky shrieks and whirls around as she materializes out of nowhere.

"Oh hey, Yor," Franky laughs nervously. "We – we were just roleplaying! Ha ha ha."

"She knows," Loid says.

Franky blinks. "She knows?"

"Yup," Loid smiles. "Franky, meet the Thorn Princess."

"..."

Franky stares.

"What the FU-"

"We need all the information you have on the Garden," Yor says insistently. "Please. They kidnapped Anya."

A mixture of emotions flash across Franky's face as he's torn between freaking out at the revelation that Yor is the Thorn Princess and the fact that Anya is kidnapped. The latter wins out. "They did what?! Why?"

"Yor was sent to take down Twilight," Loid explains. "She defected. The Garden objected. Anya was kidnapped last night."

"Ah." Franky narrows his eyes. "You know, there's nothing I hate more than innocents getting involved in our work. You need information on the Garden, you say? I don't have much, but I can call in a few favors. How much time do I have?"

"An hour," Loid replies. If the letter was delivered last night around the same time Yor betrayed the Garden, then they have around three hours left until the deadline is up. One hour to gather information and two hours to plan and prepare.

"Alright," Franky says. "I'll get to work."

「」

The Garden opted to use as their headquarters a small manor located on the outskirts of the city, nestled against the edge of the forest. Its architecture is simple and elegant, the majestic building stands imposingly over a vast expanse of a carefully maintained flower meadow. Violets, daisies, tulips, hyacinths, roses, and other assorted flowers form a bright and colorful image that is at odds with the place's nature as the heart of a classified wetworks organization.

The Garden does not have many members. Its secretive nature doesn't allow it to. In fact, it is less an organization and more a small group of the elite . The Thorn Princess, the Poison Paladin, and the Grandmaster are its sole three operatives, with the elderly but no less dangerous Manager stepping in occasionally to provide tactical support whenever necessary and the Shopkeeper being both the leader and their teacher. Other than those five, there are an additional ten guards who protect the headquarters and five analysts who deal with the logistics of a mission.

Of course, what the Garden lacks in numbers, it more than makes up for it in quality. It is rumored that just one of their operatives can wipe out an entire military company, and in the past several years, they have struck fear in the hearts of the corrupt and criminal alike. Not many are aware of the Garden's existence, but those who are try their best to avoid landing themselves on their radar, lest the Garden decide to remove them from it.

Never before has anyone stood up against the Garden.

Until now.

Michel West, one of the two guards assigned to man the front entrance, blinks as he registers movement off in the distance. He immediately raises his assault rifle, body going tense. Next to him, his fellow guard Karl Finley also goes on high alert, raising his radio and alerting the command that their targets have finally arrived.

Both of them stand there, guns raised and aimed at the two approaching figures walking through the path that cut through the flower meadow.

The radio crackles. "Confirm identities? Over."

Karl Finley peers into the scope attached to his rifle. "Identities confirmed. One man, one woman: Twilight and the Thorn Princess."

"She's bringing him in? Over."

Karl hesitates. "Negative. Over."

Indeed, as they get closer, Michel sees that Twilight is walking behind the Thorn Princess. He has a pistol aimed at the back of the Thorn Princess's head, and her hands are restrained behind her with bonds of some type. She is blindfolded, and her movements are slow and unusually sluggish.

"Twilight is holding the Thorn Princess at gunpoint," Karl reports. "She appears to be his captive. She is restrained, and her movements suggest that drugs or poison may have been used. Permission to engage?"

There is a slight pause.

"Permission denied. Ascertain Twilight's objective here." The radio goes silent after that.

"I thought the Thorn Princess defected?" Michel mutters. "And that's why we kidnapped her kid?"

Karl checks to make sure the radio's microphone is off before he answers. "Word has it that the command has no idea what's going on. All they know is that the Thorn Princess disappeared on her mission to take down Twilight. I guess the Shopkeeper's just being paranoid."

Michel grunts. They fall silent as Twilight and the Thorn Princess stop a good ten meters in front of them.

"Evening, gentlemen," Twilight greets. Michel suppresses a shiver. The spy's voice is cold and clinical, as if he were a surgeon about to conduct an operation on an unwilling patient. With his tall stature, black hair, and emotionless green eyes, he cuts a striking figure. "You are the Garden, I presume?"

"State your name and purpose," Michel barks, mostly because he isn't sure what he should say.

Twilight tilts his head. "I am Twilight. I wish to speak to the Shopkeeper. I don't take assassination attempts on me lightly." He shoves the Thorn Princess forward, who stumbles but doesn't have an outward reaction. Most likely drugs, or perhaps even torture. Michel regards Twilight warily. How in the world did he manage to do this to the Thorn Princess? What sort of monster is he? "I have both Thorn Princess and information on WISE and Westalis to guarantee me safe passage."

This changes things. It appears that the Shopkeeper was just being paranoid when they lost contact with the Thorn Princess. Michel can guess what happened: despite laying out an ambush for him, Twilight was able to turn it back on the Thorn Princess, incapacitate her, and take her captive. He is a legendary spy for a reason, after all. And isn't there that rumor that WISE burned Twilight floating around?

"One moment," Michel says, nodding at Karl. He keeps his gun focused on the two as Karl quickly turns around and radios in, explaining the situation in hushed tones. A few moments later, he nods.

"The Thorn Princess is very valuable to us. We're willing to negotiate," Karl says, lowering his gun and gesturing at Michel to do the same. "You may come inside and speak with the Shopkeeper."

Twilight inclines his head. Keeping his gun aimed at the back of the Thorn Princess's head, he steps forward. Michel and Karl open the grand double doors before moving to the side, tensing up as the two pass. He notes that Twilight remains utterly composed and at ease.

Is it arrogance? Or just supreme confidence? Even now, Twilight allows them to bring up the rear despite how they may shoot him in the back at any time. They won't, of course, but he doesn't know that.

Or does he? Has Twilight seen through them already? Constructed a psychological profile and predicted their every potential action?

Michel glances over at Karl as they follow behind them, who seems to have come to a similar conclusion, judging by the extremely wary look on his face.

So this is Twilight. How utterly terrifying.

The grand double doors slam shut behind them with an ominous thud.

We don't have a lot of information on the Garden in canon other than that one panel, but for an organization that secret, I don't imagine it to be very large

And Loid goes for the reverse bluff, pretending to have captured Yor and wishes to speak with the leader that sent her to get inside the base. I thought about those two charging in, but I don't think Loid would ever allow it lmao

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!