Rivals (ON HOLD)

Two Agencies

Elijah

I got to the base as soon as I could. Preston Meyers stood in front of a big screen and just stared. Numbers and letters flashed along the big screen. It was some sort of code. A few other agents were already working there.

"What have we got?" I asked him.

"We're trying to track the chip," Meyers started, "but we have no idea who has it. Petrov said the woman's name was 'Jenny Miller', but now we're pretty sure that might have been an alias."

"So, you think she might have been a spy," I concluded.

"That would be our guess."

I sighed as I assessed the situation.  "Do you think she was local or international?"

"Ask Elena," Meyers said. "She's the one who was speaking to him."

As if on cue, Elena walked over. Originally from Egypt, Elena relocated here to get away from the pressure of her family's military life. Now an American spy, she wasn't entirely free from what she was running from, but she was allowed to make her own choices, and wasn't in the toxic  atmosphere. I was happy she was working for us. Maybe more than the others were.

"Albert Petrov described the woman as, tall, dark hair, and green eyes," Elena explained. "However, we think she may have been disguised, so we're going to have to wait until our team gets back from investigating the room. Petrov says she sounded like she was from one of the northern states, or possibly Canada."

"How do we know she wasn't putting on an act?" I asked.

"We don't," Elena admitted. "That's the problem. We have no idea who she is , where she's from, or what agency she works for."

"Any chance it was Robert Noels' agency?" Pedro Gomez asked, beginning to walk over.

Pedro was the head of the research team, and one of the oldest members of the agency. 

"Robert Noels?" I repeated.

"He was one of our fiercest rivals back in the day," Pedro said.

"But he went underground almost fifteen years ago," Meyers interjected. "He practically dropped off the face of the Earth. We haven't heard from him since."

"Maybe he's been planning to make a comeback with whatever this chip does," I said. Pedro wasn't usually wrong about these things.

"That's the thing," Meyers said. "This is a power chip for the Golden Palace in upstate New York."

"The what?" I asked.

"The Golden Palace," Elena said. "It's a big building used exclusively for formal events. They have a ballroom and everything."

"Oh. I see," I said.

"If implemented, whoever it is will have full control over the Palace's electrical power," Meyers continued. "That means, all the main power, all emergency lights, and security measures."

"So, whoever stole the chip either really wants to steal something from there, or she's planning on killing someone with the lights out, like they do in those old movies," I concluded.

The others nodded.

"Quite honestly, I don't want to find out which it is," Meyers stated.

"Don't worry, boss," Elena said. "We'll nip this in the bud before it even gets started." She looked at me and smiled. "Right, Agent Ryder?"

"Absolutely," I said. "Let's get some work done."

Charlotte

"Okay, I know I'm an expert in heels, but when I can't see, there's a big problem," I said as Daisy clumsily guided me over a step and into our HQ.

"Oh, relax," Daisy said. She led me into the main room, where a few of the employees were working. "Can you see that chair?"

"Yeah, I'm not that blind," I said dryly. "I just need a little help due to the blurriness."

"I'll grab your glasses from your desk," Daisy said.

As she left, I ignored the chair and wandered over to where Jamal Williams, one of the techs, was working at a big computer screen.

"How'd I do?" I asked him.

"Well, no one was chasing you, although it looks like they might have tried," Jamal said. "Though I'm sure the government is going to be onto us soon enough, if they haven't started investigating already."

"Nothing we can't handle."

Everyone paused at this statement, including myself. We all turned toward the entrance, though all of us knew who it was. Our boss, the man who would end an agent just for looking at him wrong--Robert Noels.

"Agent Gold, how was your adventure tonight?" He asked stepping in from the dark hall.

"Back to work," I ordered to those around me before answering. "Excellent sir. Albert Petrov should just be waking up from the tranquilizer by now."

"Good," Robert said. "And the chip?"

"Right here." I pulled it out from my pocket.

"Excellent," He said, taking it from me. "This is why we call you Gold."

"Oh, I thought that was because of my hair," I smirked.

"That too. Though I could have called you 'Blondie'," Robert smirked back.

"Not in this century," I fired back. Finally, Daisy came in with my glasses, and I could finally see.

Just by listening to our conversations, some would say that we were meant for each other. But that was never going to happen, no way. For starters, Robert was older than my dad. Not to mention, he was ruthless.

Don't get me wrong, I had nothing but respect for Robert, but a lot of that respect came through fear. Yeah, we were a lot alike, but that might have come through my training--which came from him. Not to mention, he was a pretty scary guy.

You only become the best by being trained by the best. Robert was one of the best--and he knew it. He knew how powerful he was, and he knew how scary he was. However, as long as we did as he said, we had nothing to fear. There weren't many people left here that had been here when I had started. That was why I knew to do exactly as I was told--I knew what happened to them.

"Alright." Robert clapped his hands together, startling me out of my daydream. "Let's start discussing Phase Two."

"Do you have everything ready for the serum?" I asked.

"Not yet," Robert answered. "That's where you come in. Come with me. We need to talk privately."

A few people watched as we disappeared from the room. This wasn't entirely unusual--it just meant that this was something extremely important.