Chapter Text
It's rather unfortunate they're in San Lorenzo on business, M thinks, it would make a wonderful vacation destination. Perhaps she’d convince J to take Adi after this whole mess was over. A bonding trip would be a nice way to get them to reconnect. But that was for after they finished Damien Moreau. M linked her arm with J’s and cheered with the crowd, allowing the collective emotions to guide her expression. A wave of dismay and horror swept through her seconds after the gun sounded. She was close enough to see the grifter, Sophie, fall to the ground. Close enough to clearly see her aura flare with shock mid-fall. J moved his hand to M’s waist and lifted her onto her tip toes as he bent down to whisper, “she saw me. We need to move.” M turned her face into his shoulder to cover the interaction as she nodded. Her tears flowed freely, triggered by the collective upset of the crowd.
After taking a moment to collect herself, M turned back to the scene. Sophie was still alive. It was one of the team that had shot her, then. The only one with the skill would be Eliot. M was glad the crowd’s grief overwhelmed her feelings of pride and didn’t allow her to smile. She’d worried about Eliot the moment he’d entered the military all those years ago. She knew it would hurt him and she was right. She watched him throughout his years as a freelancer, itching to interfere and pull him out of the lifestyle that was slowly killing him. She was happy, now, that he no longer had to kill. That he had a team that would care and support him. M didn’t realize she was crying again until J pressed his hand against her hip. “We need to get you out of this crowd,” he murmured into her ear, “do you need my help?” M allowed herself to sag into him and he gently led her away.
They made it around a bend before J stepped away. “Can you find what we came for?” M took a deep breath and nodded, closing her eyes to narrow her focus. The auras of everyone in the building still visibly pulsed behind her eyelids. Slowly, she turned her head to scan their surroundings. There . “He’s above us. Probably still in Ribera’s office, if I had to guess.” M opened her eyes and J nodded. “Alone?” M shook her head. “Ribera and some goons are close enough that I’d estimate they’re in the same room.”
“We should hit him now. You know we have the skills to take Ribera and minimal security.”
“Absolutely not . This needs to be a minimal casualty, minimal impact affair. Killing the President of a small country, his personal security, and his financial backer is neither of those.”
J scowled deeply and ran a hand through his hair. “At this rate—”
“At this rate nothing , James. We have to do this as clean as possible. I need time to figure out what he knows about us. You know that. In order for this to work, we need to make sure we wiped everything . We can’t guarantee that if I don’t have time to get into his head and verify.”
J’s scowl didn’t let up but he nodded. “Fine.”
The noise of the crowds outside and behind them in the lobby continued to grow and after a few seconds gunshots could be heard. M kept her eyes on the target. Her phone started to buzz and she passed it over to J as she let her focus narrow. “He’s on the move. Take care of that for me.” She didn’t bother paying attention to his response as her eyes kept tracking unseen prey.
She didn’t know how long it had been before J squeezed her shoulder and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “That was Iggy. They texted to say the villa’s been purged.” M nodded. “Tell them to come here. He’s stopped moving. He’s not alone yet, but I think he will be soon.” J put his hand on her waist and guided M somewhere deeper in the building. Moments later, another person tapped her shoulder. M let her normal vision return and smiled at the outfit Iggy was wearing. The sunny yellow blouse was incredibly unsuited for stealth, but she knew Iggy liked a challenge. Once Iggy was sure M would see, they raised their hands to sign. “Where?”
“Northwest corner. Below us. That’s all I can see.” M brought her fist to her chest, beginning the sign for sorry, but Iggy caught her wrist and shook their head. “I’ll be back.” They stepped back and let their form melt into shadow. M closed her eyes and leaned on J. He was quick to wrap his arms around her in support. “Are you too tired to do this? We can wait.” M shook her head. “We need to be quick. And I want to get back Adi. He’s scared we won’t come back.” J sighed deeply but, before he could say anything, Iggy came back. M opened her eyes again to see Iggy’s report. “He’s in some kind of secret prison. I can get us into the cell no problem and he’s completely alone in there.” M nodded and straightened up. “Let’s not waste any time then.” She held out her hand to Iggy, who grabbed it at the same time as J’s wrist, and they melted into shadow together.
They materialized in a dismal, cramped cell. There was barely room for four people to stand. The prisoner was screaming. J remedied this quickly by clamping a hand over his mouth. The prisoner’s eyes widened and M stepped forward. “Sit him down, J.” J nodded and forced him onto one end of the bed. M knelt on the other and pulled her hair back. The prisoner’s eyes grew wider and darted to the singular camera facing his cell. Iggy took that as their cue to make themself known. They stepped out of the shadows with a pleasant smile and M spoke again. “That camera’s not working. It’s just us.” She gently touched the tips of her fingers to Damien Moreau’s temples and ripped her way into his mind. She was not careful, and memories shredded themselves under her searching grasp.
When M finally withdrew, streaks of light danced across the field of her vision. The pain would come soon. Then the nausea. Iggy heaved her off the bed and away from the unresponsive Moreau. M closed her eyes and breathed shallowly. Distantly, she heard James snap Moreau’s neck and lay him down on the bed. M felt his hand on her shoulder and managed to mumble, “got everything. Clean break.” She didn’t even notice that Iggy had transported them to the hotel until they arrived in the room and her knees gave out. M barely managed a grunt as the dull throbbing that had started in her head intensified until pain and nausea were all she could feel. Mercifully, she passed out before she had to weather the symptoms for too long.
When M opened her eyes, the migraine was gone. She still felt dead tired, though. A kiss was pressed to her forehead and she let out a quiet groan as she rolled her face into J’s chest. “Iggy left while you were asleep. Said they had errands. They should be home by the time we’re in the air.” M nodded and managed to rasp out, “time?” J shifted a little, checking his watch. “Flight’s in an hour. You can sleep some more.”
“Mmmm… no I can’t. We gotta leave.”
“Well, yes. But I want to let you sleep.”
“S’not romantic ‘f you let me miss our flight…”
“That’s not what I’m doing. I just don’t like seeing you unwell.”
“M’fine. Sleep on the plane.”
M rolled out of bed and landed on the floor with a dull thud. J helped her up and she dozed on his shoulder as he checked them out of the hotel and got them through airport security. As soon as she was seated on the plane, she slipped into a deep sleep. J woke her up at the end of the flight and M felt almost human again. She sighed and dug into her pocket for her phone to text Oarfish and Adi that they’d landed safely. The lockscreen booted up and was instantly overwhelmed with notifications. Over a hundred texts and 47 missed video calls from Iggy. M started to shake. “J?” J looked over at the sound of M’s choked, raspy voice and she turned her phone to him. He reads the latest text notification and the only thing he can feel dread at the message. There on the screen, in all caps, is a simple message: THEYR GONE