Risk and Rebel

39: ALPHA-DELTA-SNAFU

When the Kinetic invaded LASAR's headquarters, Team Delta had been on an assignment in Australia. From what I remembered, it was supposed to be a short mission — an in-and-out op that should've lasted no more than twenty-four hours.

Instead it was their last official LASAR assignment, and at some point they fell off the grid.

How they had made it to Europe, I had no idea. But I had no doubt it was with their own special kind of flair.

Rebel and I's trek to Berlin was a lengthy one. Our efforts to avoid roads didn't make it any easier, but given hitchhiking is frowned upon in Germany, it was in our better interest not to draw any extra attention to ourself.

It took a little over two hours, and the sun was setting when we arrived, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was we had arrived, and we needed to make it to the arranged meeting place. Team Delta would hang out and wait for as long as they could manage, but under the circumstances, we really didn't want to press our luck.

"You know what would be great right about now?" Rebel asked in Russian.

"No," I answered flatly in return.

"Snag," he said plainly, for it was a name better spoken in English. He ignored my tone. He was watching our surroundings just as attentively as I was, his green eyes alert.

I hummed and granted him a shrug of concession. "Unfortunately," I continued on in Russian, "you cannot speak her name and have her appear. Besides, she can only carry one person at a time, and every time she does great distances, she eats like an elephant."

Rebel snickered. "Which is pretty funny, given her size." He knocked into my shoulder then, his smile beyond amused. "She's smaller than you, after all."

I shrugged. "She's also as quick-thinking as she is moving. Remember, size doesn't always matter in a fight."

Rebel rolled his eyes before taking an abrupt turn down a more narrow street, toward the train station we had been looking for. "I wasn't going to try and pick a fight with her," he continued smoothly, holding the door open for me after we'd cleared the crowds.

"No, but your teasing would get you there anyway," I murmured, moving past him into the space.

We both went mute as we moved through the train station, purchasing tickets and then proceeding to navigate the halls. Once we had discovered a map, we knew where we were headed. Desmond had set up a very public meeting place for us to meet Delta. It was one of the platforms, and it was halfway across the station. Not that Rebel or I minded the walk, it just reminded me of a few things.

Firstly, we'd had no encounters with the Kinetic on our way in. That alone was enough to make me suspicious, and I didn't have to be a mind reader to know Rebel felt it, too. He was lingering closer to me, and every once in a while would give a once-over to anyone who passed too close to us.

Second, it was getting late. Soon the crowds would leave, giving us much less cover. There was a good chance we'd actually have to catch a train in order to stay inconspicuous.

Last — and the greatest reason of all — Team Delta had likely been waiting for hours at this point. And Outlaw and Slick staying put in one place for that long had never worked out well in the past.

"That's our platform," Rebel said abruptly, nodding across the tracks. "Dunno how we ended up on this side," he mused, scratching the back of his head and looking down both ends of the platform we were on.

I was diligently scanning the platform across from us — it was filled largely with men and women in business wear, teenagers in trendy, bright clothes, and a few couples looking sickly-sweet — when chaos erupted.