𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 - 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐳

prologue | the writing on the wall

"Clearly you didn't hide it well enough," she could hear him scowling. "Keep your doors locked tonight, tomorrow we're gonna put your file in the off-grid archives,"

"Excuse me, if it's some small, half-ass mafia run by pot-addicted in the basement of their parents' house, I'm not going off into the damn death archives," she seethed, green eyes flashing in irritation.

"No, actually," replied Fury. "You got the biggest mob boss out there damn pissed and out for your blood."

"You realise that if my file goes in the archives, then I will have to answer some very uncomfortable questions from my little sister, all of which are along the lines of 'are you a spy?'. And that is definitely a question I cannot answer."

"Stay low," Nick warned. "We'll have you in protection soon. Non-negotiable."

With that, he cut the call.

•••
Why didn't I listen?
•••

"Deena, I'm gonna go get something from downstairs," Shazen said as she caught sight of someone in black clothes slinking up towards their apartment building after having pinpointed the location.

Adeena shrugged and sat on the counter, shoveling lasagna into her mouth straight from the container and nodded, "Alright, but I'm still talking about the consumerism thing after you're back."

"Fine, fine, whatever," the red headed spy rolled her eyes, grimacing at her sister's antics. She grabbed her twin knives discreetly and pocketed it, saying, "At least use a plate, dumbass..."

"You love me," smirked her sister, leaning back on her palm, the fork hovering in front of her lips.

Shazen rolled her eyes and laughed, "Hm, yes. I do. Now stay here."

•••
She listened to me, for once.
But I didn't listen to my gut.
•••

Adeena waved her away and she immediately became vigilant the moment she was in the corridor of the apartment building. The dim lights flickered, and inside each house there was enough ruckus to make any shouting sound normal.

Her senses heightened and she felt a presence behind her. Instantly, she whipped around, holding her knives in a reverse grip and slashing at whoever tried sneaking up on her.

Her left knife caught at their abdomen, coming away red along with the silver blade. She dodged a punch to the face and narrowly missed getting thrown over the railing of the stairs as the intruder threw punch after punch, kick after kick.

Of course in the tussle they both gained their own injuries.

"Jeez, you put up one hell of a fight, don't you?" She seethed, slamming the person into the wall. Their eyes beneath the mask flashed angrily, brows furrowing as they kicked forward, shoving her back into the closest shoe rack.

Shazen threw a knife a the person, but where it should've gotten embedded in the skin, it bounced off.

"What in the hell..." she mumbled, confused. The person's mask twitched, making it look like they were smirking as they lifted their pant leg to show a prosthetic leg. In seconds, Shazen felt it connect with her abdomen, leaving her gasping for air. Her knives clattered to the side, leaving her left with her fists to defend herself.