#josephoc

[i-eat-worlds]

Alex & Friends Part 8-Assignment

hey look it’s finally here. Let’s meet some people! Also some important plot stuff happens. Let’s meet our whumper! Masterlist

cw: pretty chill, character relieving bad memories,

“Good morning, Turquoise Team.” A person wearing a crisp gray uniform stood adjacent to several large screens. Between the generously padded chairs surrounded and solid wood conference table, this had to be one of the nicer rooms that Alex had been debriefed in. “I hope y’all slept well, cause this one’s a doozy.” “Before we get started, let’s get everyone properly introduced. I’m Senior Administrator Rudick. Foster, want to introduce them?” The first man from the alley waved a little bit. “Sure, Rudick.” He gestured to himself. “I’m Eric, He/Him, I’m the team lead.” Alex had been right about that. “You’ve met Joseph, he’s our medic.” He pointed at hawk face, “That’s Avia, She/They, resident ass kicker, across from her Dr. Santos, Sher/Her, our tech wizard.” Headphones smiled when she was introduced. Eric pointed further down the table “Guy in the beanie is Sil, He/Him, he’s our transportation specialist.” Sil made a snickering noise. “That just means I drive fast.”

“And hopefully in a straight line.” Eric joked. “Last one is Aarav, He/They, he’s the SAR guy, kills at hide n’ seek.”

“I’m Alex, She/Her, Surveillance and Intelligence group.” She introduced. Alex couldn’t help the pang of jealousy-or was it sadness-in her chest. She’d never really had a team like this, a group of people to fall back on. It was the nature of her work, solitary and confining. That was simply the way things had to be. “Now that we’ve met, a quick review.” She fiddled with her tablet for a moment. “Four days ago, a hit was placed on the dark web, offering two million dollars for the assassination of an ‘Olena Lepshev.’ Along with the name were other details, date and place of birth, last known locations, and this photo.” A photo of herself appeared on the monitor, a screencap from surveillance video of a train station. “This was agged by an analyst, since it matched details of a former alias.” Rudick turned to her. “Because the LKA was so close to your current one, and we could document several groups moving towards it, the call was made to evacuate you.” She remembered getting the call from her handler. “Heads up, somebody wants you dead, call you back when we know who.” Alex could guess who it was, though. While she’d used Olena Lepshev many times, in many different places, there was really only one person who’d pay two million dollars to see her corpse. Albert Zorland. Her breathing quickened just thinking about him, but she made herself calm. He was in prison, Alex reminded herself, he can’t ever hurt you again. “We’ve had two major developments since your return. Firstly, it appears that your pursuers were the Andros Brothers. Teleporting murders and thieves for hire. They were the first to arrive, but an operative for Devlin Corp. was also in Prague at the time, and Darksea expressed interest, so we’re assuming that multiple groups are making an attempt.” Wonderful. Several mercenary organizations were trying to kill her. Two million bucks is a powerful motivator. “Secondly, with the help of Dr. Santos, we were nally able to pin down the origin of the hit.” Alex rubbed her hands against each other under the table. She hoped that she was wrong. She hoped that it was not who she thought it was. “It traced back to a server in Greece. It’s used by several dierent companies, mainly an LLC called Raven Industries. Further digging revealed that it is one of many shells owned by now incarcerated super villain Albert Zorland.”

There it was. Every time Alex thought he was gone, banished from her life forever, he always reappeared. As much as she tried to, she couldn’t ignore the way fear spiked in her heart and how her stomach dropped. She hated how the thought of him, of his fake smile and crass laughter, reduced her to nothing. She hated how sometimes she could feel his clammy hands on her skin. It made her skin crawl and her stomach lurch with nausea.

“Because of the serious nature of this threat, Turquoise Team has been assigned as a protective detail for you, Shevchenko.” Alex tried not to frustratedly sigh at that. She failed. “We have an open safe house in London. Plane departs an hour, ten hours sharp. Pack up your stu and I’ll see you on the tarmac. Any questions?”

Sil raised his hand. “Will there be food on the plane?” He asked. Rudick sighed like she did this too much. “Bring your own snacks. Any other questions?” Everybody looked at each other, as if to answer no. “Great. Dismissed.”

Tagging: @pigeonwhumps