Close combat wasn't her favourite sport.
Her rival, agent Jenny, had a wild attitude. She stared at her like a hungry predator.
But Crystal never allowed anyone to treat her as a prey.
Ives was cheering her loudly, but his noise was only an annoying detail that fuelled her anger, motivating her to fight with more zeal.
When she was about to knock out her arrogant rival, Neil called off the duel.
Crystal helped a pissed Jenny up, then turned to smile brightly at the blonde agent. But as usual, Neil ignored her and focused on complimenting Jenny instead, murmuring her some tips to improve her moves.
Was Jenny the kind of women that Neil preferred?
To Crystal she looked like any petty girl who overreacted and lingered too much on a mere training session, instead of aiming at bigger ideals.
In her first days at the training camp, Crystal had tried to learn more about Neil's tastes.
The Protagonist already acted like a friend to her, but the blonde, younger man was his right hand and she needed his friendship too if she wanted to deepen her spying job. She wasn't safe if someone like Neil was keeping his distance but at the same time always waiting for her to make a wrog step.
And if he already had any proof that she was a spy, he was a fool because he didn't denounce her to the Protagonist.
If he wanted her not to be recruited, then he failed when he had the chance to persuade his boss to send her away.
Protected by his diffidence and his silence, Neil managed to remain a mystery to her.
While Ives was an open book.
She trained on him to discover all his tastes and in few days about him she knew already more than she wanted to know.
"Are you hurt? You know that I'm good at healing any kind of wound and bruises" Ives teased, waking her from her brooding.
Neil had disappeared in another room with Jenny, so Crystal sighed and turned to offer a comforting smile to her friend.
"I'm alright. I keep any bruise and scar as trophies" she grinned and hurried to change her clothes.
She knew that Ives was spying her even when she close the door of the changing room. But again, it wasn't anything new to her.
Ives invited her to eat some meal together, looking excited to share some news.
"I persuaded the boss to make you join our more advanced training session, that is scheduled for tomorrow".
"How advanced?" she asked, letting a piece of bread roll between her lips and teeth in a way that made his jaw drop a little.
He blinked, confused by that distracted view, then explained "We are divided into two teams. The blue and the red one. We just need on work on team coordination. We are given a task, then the two teams have to fight each other to complete that task".
"Sounds like a rugby match" she commented with disapproval.
He chuckled, swallowing his Coke "Yes. It's just some easy practice, before the even more advanced trainings".
And again he used that mysterious tone he used whenever he tried to mention something bigger and more secret about Tenet.
At first she thought it was his trick to fascinate her and make her believe that Tenet was a sort of Wonderland.
Then she realized that he indeed had some secrets to keep from her and no matter how she tried to persuade him to give we more hints about that secret stuff, he kept his mouth shut.
She hoped that she didn't need to squeeze him between her legs in order to loosen his tongue.
"I'm not sure if I prefer that we end up in the same team or not. I'm sure it will be hot anyway" he winked with a malicious grin.
She laughed softly, enjoying the idea of something to look forward to.
In the next morning she was recruited in the blue team with Ives.
Each agent had just some blue fabric on the sleeves of their uniforms to distinguish them from the red team.
She and a dozen of other agents jumped on a grey truck that carried them to a new training field, an abandoned, decaying building.
Crystal was intrigued by the fact that also Neil was joining the mission, recruited in the red team with Jenny.
It was going to be fun, Crystal thought with new confidence.
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.
As she experimented several techniques, she realized that he was making her back away from the door.
It changed everything.
Her target wasn't owerwhelming him again, but reaching that door.
Neil guessed her plan and tried anything to keep her away from it.
"Hey, easy!" he complained under her violent blows "I don't want to hurt you".
He used a tone like he was a teacher scolding a child for being too wild.
She scoffed at his false act of a gentleman "Don't make me break that handsome face of yours".
Having her wrists blocked by his iron grip, she tried to kick him between his legs with her knee.
But he foresaw that too and moved away, trying to make her turn and attack at her back.
She disagreed and crushed his foot.
They both lost their balance and she felt on him.
That was an enjoyable position, but she remembered that she wanted to reach that reinforced door.
Neil didn't let her go and she was curious to find out what trick he could use to try to distract her.
Maybe the situation could inspire him something romantic. She almost hoped that.
But if he dared to flip them over, she would punch his face.
"Neil?" another voice broke her daydream "Any luck with that door?".
Crystal struggled to free her arms, but he didn't let her wrists go.
"Do you need help?" the other red agent asked.
"No" Neil hissed gritting his teeth "Go back to that bloody door".
Crystal grinned when finally they were left alone again. She tried to use her legs to tease his sensitive spots and managed to pull herself up, but when she tried to reach the door, he assaulted her back and wrapped his arms around her to stop her.
"You're relentless" he commented, breathing deeply on her hair.
"I never surrender" she hissed shooting him an obstinate glance.
"Fine. You deserve this" unexpectedly Neil let her go and she shot him a questioning look at him.
Maybe that position was too much for him?
If his weak point was so simple, her victory was easy.
Crystal stepped carefully away from him, then ran at the door.
"Impress me" Neil challenged her, following her and brushing a hand on his messy hair.
She saw a number pad to enter a secret code. The only hint were some random letters handwritten on a note on the pad.
Crystal sighed with relief. Unlocking doors and decryption were her thing.
But the letters didn't suggest any easy pattern.
Having Neil observing her persuaded her that it was a challenge she couldn't lose.
After some deep thinking, she digited a code and hearing the door being unlocked was the best reward to her efforts.
"Outstanding" Neil commented, but they were back into competition, so they bolted to another staircase that brought them on the top of the building.
Another door separated them from the open air, but someone was already outside and the door was blocked.
Crystal didn't waste time on trying to open that too and kicked a nearby window.
Pushing herself out of the passage, she saw a couple of red agents, who just glared at her before consulting again on the map they had in their hands.
Neil emerged too and joined his team.
"Now what? We throw ourselves down from here?" Crystal asked checking how tall the building was.
"No" Neil cut off dismissively "The map marks this place as the finish line".
"So game over" she simpered and looked around.
Some noises announced the arrival of other agents.
"First!" Ives exclaimed when he noticed Crystal already outdoor "I've always said that you're brilliant".
She grinned but soon she was distracted by something caught by the tip of her shoe.
"Aren't you the best locksmith?" Ives was teasing Neil "And she beat you?".
There was a little amount of old trash in front of her and she rigged with her shoe, until she found something more polished.
When she touched it, she realized it was a mistake.
The device exploded, but produced just some bright light and some red smoke, like a weak flare.
Crystal staggered, but some strong hands grabbed her before she could fall.
"It's over! We won!" Ives shouted, pulling her into a tight hug while her team exulted too.
Crystal was more grateful that her hands were still attached to her arms and she raised them with pride.
All agents shook each other's hands, then Ives suggested to climb down the building using some ropes and putting to use the equipment they wore.
It wasn't something she liked, yet Crystal welcomed that new dose of adrenaline.
That successful mission made her earn the respect of some more agents, except for Neil.
He kept being indifferent, leaving all the enthusiasm to Ives, who even dared to follow Crystal into her changing room and tried to kiss her on her lips.
She had to gather all her self control to push him away gently instead of breaking his face.
She didn't want to lose his friendship, but she couldn't distract herself with other men, when she had two targets.
The leader of Tenet and his right hand.
Freeing herself from Ives's interfering presence, allowed her to spend more time on her own in her new working place where she quickly adapted.
Moving around like a shadow, she happened to hear also some interesting discussions, specially when they involved her.
"Is it too much to ask you to accept her?" Ives was asking sternly to Neil, that Crystal spotted walking back and forth in front of his friend.
"You can't force me to welcome her. Like she's family" Neil spat with disapproval.
"I never realized how you can be blinded by your pride" Ives countered "She's doing everything to prove that she deserves her role".
"Then why didn't you get between her legs yet? Since this seems the only thing you care about!".
Crystal choked a laugh. Hearing men fighting over a woman was always so ludicrous.
She didn't need to peer at them to guess how Ives flustered at that.
"I'm only supporting her. She has my respect".
"She ghosted you. Didn't she?".
She rolled her eyes at how Neil was heavily teasing.
After getting only silence from Ives, he added more quietly "If you truly cared of her as you claim, you would have never invited her to join us, where she would risk her life".
Crystal pondered those words, wondering if he truly meant it or it was just to win over the opponent.
"Are you still blaming yourself for what happened to Heath?" Ives asked in an awkward whisper "You didn't bond with him that much, but since that accident you changed. We all moved on. You should should do the same. We learned the mistake. It wasn't worthless".
Crystal turned in the dark to peer at the two young men. She didn't know enough about the topic, but their face proved how heavy that thing was for them.
"I guess you're right" Neil conceded "But not about your new recruit".
The discussion ended there, with Neil marching away and Ives lingering for a while, then he left too.
Crystal leaned against the wall in the darkness, thinking about what she heard.
Did Neal wish her to stay away from Tenet to protect her some its dangerous missions? Or that was an excuse to hide how much he despised her?
And what happened to that dead stranger, Heath?
She concluded that it wasn't her concern.
Someone else was soon going to die. And she didn't want to be on the dead list.
A/N
Finally some action. Or stretching 💪
I swear that I realized only after writing this chapter and reviewing it that the mission seems a bit like the maze adventure in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with Cedric Diggory 🤯 - that is also the role that made me discover the existence of this amazing actor called Robert Pattinson 😍
New chapter coming soon 🤗