Inverted (a Neil / Tenet fanfic)

Chapter 3

As the two teams separated in front of the entrance, Neil shook hands with Ives, nominating him the leader of the blue team while Neil took the lead of the red one.
Then he tossed a coin in the air, winning whatever advantage was offered by a dark bag hanging from a broken window.
Neil took it and handed it to Jenny, who pulled out a map with some instruction.
The red team entered the building, while Ives turned to instruct his own team.

Crystal frowned in confusion when his speech revealed that their own task was to become any obstacle to the red one and try to detect what kind of mission the enemies had been offered.
If it involved some spying actions, she felt like home.

As the team splitted, one of the agents explained her some logistic aspects while running down a corridor.
She heard some noises upstairs and wondered if the building was safe enough not to crush on them.
That game still didn't make much sense to her.
Now it looked like hide and seek, but whenever they spotted someone wearing the red band they had to physically assault him.
It was like being into a large maze full of crazy people.
It was far from the kind of training she was used to, but soon her bloodthirstiness helped her.
In that mess, she could even kill someone and make it appear like an accident.
But it wasn't her time to kill anyone. Not yet.

Her companion turned on his radio and she heard Ives's voice instructing to rush upstairs.
Crystal wondered why they shouldn't simple take anyone of the red team and torture him until he would reveal what their missions was.
But practically, the red team was also working on setting the wrong track.
So the real meaning of that kind of training started to become clearer. The blue team needed a good cooperation to split into single agents so to check the whole building while communicating properly so they would work as a strong team.

Crystal found herself alone when her companion ordered her to go on while he ran to attack a red agent and they started to wrestle on the dusty floor.
Two predators would do a better job on a single prey, but she didn't want to offend her mate's pride.

She climbed other stairs and avoided a little trap made with fishing wire. Invisible, but Crystal was trained to ponder every step she took.
It would be too humiliating to run like a blind man and stumble on that silly horizontal wire to land flat on the floor.
Her radio crackled about keeping an eye on the top of the building, where the rival team had to seek something in order to win the game.
Crystal climbed other stairs, cursing when she felt the steps slippery.
Someone had thrown oil, but that wasn't enough to discourage her.

As soon as she stepped on the upper floor, someone jumped from behind a door.
Catching the movement with the corner of her eye, Crystal managed to avoid a blow and grabbed the attacker's leg, created the unbalance that made the rival reel.
She disengaged herself in time, saving herself from falling from the staircase with the red agent.
She gaped, fearing that the action was a little too much, but when she saw the agent moving and groaning at the bottom of the stairs, she forgot about it.
Crystal turned to inspect the new floor and noticed another agent working on trying to unlock a handleless door.
The familiar blonde head made her grin in victory.
"Finally" she murmured triumphantly to herself.

When he heard her approaching steps, Neil turned to face her.
He didn't give her any advantage and blocked her blow. She grabbed his arm and tried to twist it, bumping against him.
Her nostrils recognized the scent of his cologne.
She dared to shoot him a provocative look, that dazed or confused him a little, but soon he reacted coldly, wriggling away from her grip and trying to make her lose her balance.
She didn't falter and tried to make him fall, but he was good at blocking her attacks.
She didn't even manage to slap him in the face, something she had craved for in order to punish his diffidence.
But everyone had some weak point and she was confident to find it out soon. A knowledge that would be useful in other phases of her real missions.