Things are proceeding as planned for once! Mia is dead, Jacob is on assignments, I've got two teams on missions, and James' face is almost healed. Oh, and Ray is a wreck. I guess that's reasonable, given that her girlfriend just turned up dead. If she figures out who it was- which I doubt, given she hasn't left her room in nearly thirteen hours- Jacob is also dead. That would be entertaining, if inconvenient. I would hope she did it publicly.
However, I have other things to deal with first. I managed to get my hands on Mia's things, and New S.H.I.E.L.D. is embarrassingly lax on security. Thanks to some skills I've picked up- or tortured tutorials out of people on- I made quick work of getting my hands on her data.
The boss I killed wasn't her handler. According to this, she was reporting to the boss of their anti-Hydra division directly. Many feelings boil up in me at this, at the attention to detail, at the desperation that their messages reek of. One such feeling being pride. I'm becoming a problem. I'm causing enough problems that they're scrambling to get to me.
The second being concern. They know exactly where I'm operating. I don't think they'd move in yet- they have no reason to believe anything happened to Mia. By the looks of things, she'd check in every two days. Based on what I know of New S.H.I.E.L.D., they'll give her two days before assuming she's MIA. Because she reported yesterday, I have three days before I have to move our operations. It's doable. It's not fun, but it's doable. I'll start by contacting all my team leads, telling them not to come back. They know where we'll rendezvous.
Next- Ray isn't mentioned in any of the reports. Even though Mia sent reports of all powered individuals. Which is also a problem. I have many of them now. However, Ray isn't mentioned. Anywhere, from what I can see. That means that Ray wasn't involved. Jane was- They thought I'd kick her out, not kill her. A bit stupid of them. I'm glad I killed her.
I need as much support as I can get now. I have to move our operations, which so many of us call home, and that's not going to go well. I need help.
I close the laptop, tucking it in the false back in one of my desk drawers. Force of habit- I always have somewhere to hide things. Teleporting back through the main room, I walk down the hall that leads to Ray's room. A series of storage closets, curtains, and improvised walls. There'll be no doubt that we were here. I intend to keep it that way. Rub it in her face that she was too late, once again.
Ray has a real door. Perks of her and Mia sharing a room. This means that her crying is muffled. Only slightly. I knock on it gently, and hear her pause, taking a breath. And then she swears at me in Russian. I half-smirk.
"It's Rosan. I need to speak with you," I return in clumsy Russian. "About Mia," I add after a moment of silence.
Several seconds later, Ray opens the door. Her eyes are puffy, her cheeks streaked with tears, but she holds a murderous gaze that rivals my own.
"What?" She snaps, switching back to Romanian. Most of the victims I've found came from a Romanian base, so we speak it most often here.
"Can I come in?" I furrow my brows, making myself look concerned. She looks at me skeptically, and for a moment I wonder if she's considering crushing me like an empty bottle of water and going on with her day. If I wasn't paying attention, she could. Even without the superstrength, she's several inches taller than me and quite...buff. Thankfully, she nods towards her room, and opens the door the rest of the way.
"What's wrong?" She asks as she closes the door.
"There's something I need to tell you. About Mia," I say the words quietly, anxiously. This will crush her. She'll either leave entirely, feeling alone and betrayed, or she'll run off anger and join me. Either way, I win.
"She was working for New S.H.I.E.L.D.," I say quickly, as if ripping off the bandaid. I see Ray's disbelief, and she nearly trips over her own feet as she sits on the edge of her desk. "Reporting on all of us. Every few days, she'd send information about our operations." I drop my voice. "She sent a list of all of us from Hydra. The ones with powers. Our names, our ranks, our abilities,"
"No," Ray whispers, her voice cracking. Yes. Keep going. Your girlfriend betrayed you, Rachel. I neglect the part where Mia 'forgot' to mention Ray in anything, but it's necessary. I practically beg her to make the connections. "She- she wouldn't have. She wouldn't have done that to us," She shakes her head convictedly.
"She knew that Jane was a traitor because she was too. They discussed the risks. They didn't think that I'd kill her," I urge Ray, telling the truth. The more truth I tell, the less lies I have to manage. She snaps her head up, staring at me with fear in her eyes.
"Did you-" She covers her mouth with her hand, trying not to burst into tears again. It's almost striking, the contrast in this girl, strong in almost every way. "Did you kill her?"
"No, no, I didn't know. Gabby-" The girl who shrieked- loudly enough I was concerned we'd have to abandon the mall- when she found Mia "-found a bag with her. All her reports are in it. I'm so sorry, Ray," I rest a hand on her shoulder as she stares at their bed.
A bed that they shared.
I see the moment it dawns on her that every night they slept next to each other, she was sleeping beside a traitor. And I see the cold anger settle into her eyes. The determination. And smugly, I know I've won.
"Listen," I say gently, walking to the door. "I'm sorry, I know you've got a lot of memories in here, but we're moving bases in a couple days. Mia told them where we were,"
I latch the door behind me, but I don't leave yet. I stand there, listening. And then I hear a noise that sounds suspiciously like a fist hitting a concrete wall. As I walk away, I know that I have a new ally. She's grieved her girlfriend, so now she must get revenge against the traitor.
Now! Next on the list. I need to figure out where we're moving. We do have some funds stockpiled. And now that I have access to all of Mia's things- as well as her badge, her ID, and a very convincing shapeshifter- I also have access to a New S.H.I.E.L.D. bank account. I know for a fact that they're practically limitless, due to some very wealthy beneficiaries. I walk back through the main room, feeling quite pleased, but pause in my tracks when I see someone walking towards the door to the stairs.
"Hey!" I shout, teleporting over. James groans, turning around. "Where are you going, darling?" I ask with my hands on my hips.
"Recruitment?" He asks hopefully with a grin that reminds me how young we all are. If the people in charge would take care of this, I wouldn't be leading an army of children. Yet, here we are.
"No!" I cry, suddenly protective. "No recruitment. We have enough problems already. We have to find a new base and I need someone to go find Denny so he can break into a bank!"
"And that will be so much easier with more people, right?" He reaches for the door again. I practically snatch his wrist, pulling him away.
"I don't want you getting hurt again," I whisper, playing vulnerable. The feelings come easily for this one.
"I won't, I promise," James says, cupping my face and kissing my forehead. "But no one else is recruiting, so I have to!" He reaches for the door again.
"Please don't," I repeat, practically begging. If I were any more desperate, I'd be on my knees. "Stay with me,"
James sighs, slowly turning back to where I stand helplessly, wringing my hands.
"I...suppose I can wait. Make sure this one knows what they're getting into," He admits, stepping away from the door. I smile and take his hand, wrapping it around me as I tuck myself into his side.
"How's your shoulder?" James asks as we walk towards my office, fingers grazing over the scar at the edge of my collar. The contact sends shivers down my back.
"You found me an excellent healer," I reply simply. It's not a lie. I'm still in a lot of pain, but it's manageable. Makes it easier to stay awake all night and read a traitor's emails. It's not infected, the bullet is out, and all my muscles and arteries are intact. I'm very well off, all things considered.
"You said that we have to move?" James asks as he lets go of me to shut the door behind us. I close my eyes and sigh.
"Yeah. Mia apparently gave up our location after she joined," I start digging through the desk, unpacking the money I've been collecting for the past year. James starts working in tandem, anticipating what I'm after, and disappears into the next room, coming back with my suitcase. As he unzips it, I walk over and toss in the armload of organized cash into the pile of random bills.
"As impressive as this is, it's not going to house all of us," James says quietly. I nod, getting Mia's laptop out again.
"It'll get us bribes. Mia is going to get us everything else. I'll take Denny around and start skimming their bank accounts. There's a hotel back in Slovakia I know some people in. Close enough to Romania we should find more targets, but there haven't been any bases there in ages,"
"I have a few problems with that,"
"Like what?" I snap my head up. My plan is great. The hotel is family owned. I buy out the top couple of floors and bribe the owners to let me do it.
"Like the fact that you can't handle taking other people?" James suggests. I self-consciously shake my white-streaked hair away from my face. A testament to how hard I'm working for this.
"It's just one person, we'll be fine," I mutter.
"Or how about how close Slovakia is?"
Both of us know what he means by that.
"It's necessary. Besides, I don't know anyone there," I tensely reply.
"No, but you know that they'll look for us if we get any closer. Why not something safer, like Germany?" James leans on the edge of the desk, looking down at me.
I pause and consider. Hydra was founded in Germany. It's an obvious target.
"No," I say dismissively, "I don't know anyone in Germany,"
"You're telling me you wouldn't just kill the owner of the hotel and take it?" He smirks, raising an eyebrow. I roll my eyes.
"Of course, but that would raise questions. It's not efficient,"
"All about efficiency, my dear?" He teases, walking around behind me. As I dig through Mia's files, looking for her list of bank accounts, James leans down and presses a light kiss right behind my ear and whispers,
"Efficiency would let me go get more people to help you,"
I groan in annoyance.
"What's so special about this one?" I ask. He's being unusually pushy. I just want him in the base. Where I can keep an eye on him.
"A telekinetic, lost his brother to Hydra's experiments, holding a grudge and out for blood. Remind you of anyone?"
"Telekinetic or telepathic?" I look up at James, who purses his lips. Immediate red flag.
"I don't know," He admits.
"Absolutely not," I declare, turning back to the laptop.
"He might just be a telekinetic!" James throws his hands up.
"Or he could be a telepath! You know how I feel about them, James!" I cry.
"Yes, you feel incredibly warm and cozy, adore them with your whole heart, and know how useful one could be to us!"
"I know that they're dangerous, and I know what they can do, and I know that I don't want one in my crew!" I shout back. James opens his mouth to say something, but someone knocks on the door. I shoot a worried glance at James and call out for them to enter.
Jacob comes in, looking between us, clearly having heard there was an argument. Despite having been shouting at me a moment before, James slides over to take his place behind me.
"You wanted me, boss?" Jacob asks.
"Yeah," I set the laptop down again. "I need you to tell your teams to not come back. Take their targets, hit the rendezvous, all that," I say dismissively.
"That risks our ability to actually get any information out of the targets," Jacob says evenly. It's a challenge. I tighten my jaw.
"Yes, but it increases our chances of avoiding New S.H.I.E.L.D., since the girl you killed last night told them where we live," I reply in my most neutral tone, messing with some paperwork. I glance up in time to see Jacob's eyes flash with panic for a split second at the realization that I know he did it.
"Yes, sir," He replies, turning to leave.
As soon as the door closes, James grabs my shoulder and spins my chair around to face him.
"I don't like him," He says.
"Me either,"
"And I'm sorry I yelled at you,"
"It's alright,"
"I just thought that a potential telepath could be valuable to you,"
"And I don't disagree, but the risk-reward ratio here isn't the best," I stand up, kissing his cheek. "Talk to the kid. If he's just a telekinetic, I'll give you a team to go pick him up tomorrow. If not, we'll leave him to his own devices, maybe point him towards his own target," I offer the compromise.
I collect Hydra's victims. The people whose lives they tore apart. The kids who were sold off, who were taken from their parents, who turned themselves over. We didn't deserve this.
But I do not deal in telepaths.