NEVADA, 2040.
"Do you want another shot?"
Hani's eyes are glassy as she downs her whiskey shot, her glimmering eyeshadow sparkling extra against the dim light. Behind her, the city lights flicker in the distance in floor-to-ceiling windows and an impeccably-dressed butler serves them more hors d'oeuvres on thick napkins engraved with the imprint of an azure dragon.
This luxurious apartment is the last thing one would expect to see upon entering the tacky medieval hotel they'd had to walk through. The Azure Dragons had co-opted a service elevator that ran between every odd floor and apparently the top floor led to the most jaw-dropping apartment Shailene's ever seen. She doesn't even want to think of what debauchery lays below them. But that's the Azure Dragons for you — a veneer of glamor to disguise their utter lack of taste or class.
"You know I would never refuse," Shailene says, accepting the crystal glass. The amber liquid is smoky and bitter as it washes down her throat, burning a warmth in her chest.
"I still can't believe you left us for her," Park Yuno says to Hani, crossing her legs. "I can't imagine Left Behind throws any good parties." Her girlish giggle isn't what one expects out of a prominent gang leader, but 26-year-old Yuno has always been the obvious heir despite having an older brother. It's been said that prior to her father's death, she'd beg him to let her sit in on torture sessions — even getting to play with the controls of the electric chair on her 12th birthday.
Hani shrugs at the curly-haired woman. "You get tired of being an escort." Hani says it casually but Shailene feels a twinge of annoyance at the woman in front of them. The Azure Dragons try to pretend that they give their escorts a glamorous life but Shailene knows that their system is nothing more than exploitation.
"And you," Yuno narrows her eyes at Shailene. "How do you keep getting more beautiful each time I see you? Can you recommend me your surgeon?"
Before Shailene can open her mouth, Hani cuts in. "Shailene has never gotten an enhancement surgery." Shailene simply shrugs.
Yuno raises her eyebrows. "Is that so? Hmm, well I wonder if there's anything the Azure Dragons could offer you? I have a feeling you'd have a lot of fun with us."
Shailene laughs, highly aware of the way Yuno looks her skin-tight dress up and down. "You know I've dedicated my life to Left Behind."
Hani throws an arm around Shailene, leaning against her and hugging her tightly. Hani caresses Shailene's bare thigh. She can smell the sweet alcohol on Hani's breath. "It's true. She's always working."
Yuno sighs, looking like a sad little girl who's lost her puppy. She's tied pink ribbons into her hair, but they only serve to accentuate how untamable her hair is. "But we would love to have you. Who cares about the end of the world or yada yada whatever it is that you do?"
Shailene smiles again but is careful to avoid the topic. Nothing about Park Yuno looks threatening, but she's one of the most dangerous women in the country. And also one of the most unhinged. Even when drinking, Shailene never lets her guard down. "Speaking of. We're planning another round of targets, but we're low on supplies. Can we trust your team to come through with the next shipment? I'm sure you enjoyed the fruits from our last hit."
The three collectively look down on the table, where fresh fruits are laid delicately.
Yuno takes a swig straight from the bottle and wipes her mouth roughly. "Done and done."
"That's what you said last month," Shailene says, voice still playful. She makes sure to look at Yuno through her lashes, gazing at the formidable woman demurely. It makes her want to vomit. "We really need your help."
Yuno corks the bottle and folds her tiny hands on her stomach, leaning back. "Well, Ms. Fischer. We've had some important people knocking doors and trying to track me down."
"Well, you're an important person." Hani flashes Yuno an innocent smile. Good. This is why Shailene needed to bring her — Hani is a natural charmer who has none of the same edge that other LB members have. Plus, all Azure Dragons have some sort of strange reverence towards Yuno and Shailene isn't sure that it's totally dissipated in Hani yet.
"That doesn't make me immune to danger when Ryan McNamara comes asking around," Yuno responds, somberly swirling her glass of whiskey. Her expression is dead now. "You know I take no sides."
"But?"
Yuno suddenly breaks into another fit of giggles, her emotions changing like the wind. "Does there need to be a but?"
"No," Shailene grins. "I'd be perfectly happy if your sentence ended there."
Yuno sobers again, face serious. "But the Azure Dragons need to keep a good relationship with the local authorities." She rolls her eyes, as though it's a truth she hates.
Hani snorts. "I can't tell you how many military officers were customers of mine. You know they'll never shut down the Azure Dragons."
"Shut down, no," Yuno agrees, taking another messy swig of the whiskey. "But they burnt down one of our biggest opium suppliers last week and they threatened one of my Dragon Girls." Yono pauses for a moment. Shailene can see her jaw muscles tighten for a second, followed by a slight frown. However, Yuno relaxes, and continues. "They're supposed to look the other way, but they won't if we collaborate too closely for their liking."
Not for the first time in her life, Shailene feels a rush of hate for Ryan McNamara. She's sure that man is a robot sent from hell to destroy her life. Ever since her parents' days, Colonel McNamara and his WRAITH cronies have been obsessed with destroying their organization. "We'll double what we're paying you," Shailene says, even wincing at having to make the offer. Hani looks over, perfectly aware of Left Behind's ever-dwindling financial situation.
Yuno laughs and gestures around at the ornate penthouse they sit in. "The Azure Dragons are not hurting for money, Shailene. In fact, I could get triple what you pay me in a year if I told Ryan that the FBI's Most Wanted is sitting in my living room right this second."
Shailene smiles tightly. Yuno's voice is light and joking, but Shailene knows that the option is only in her mind because she's seriously considered it. "You wouldn't want me in jail."
"No, I wouldn't." Yuno scrutinizes Shailene carefully, as though deep in thought. "Is there really nothing that can convince you to join us? Hani, we'll take you back too."
Hani puts on another coat of her dark lipstick, her lips in a slight pout. "You should focus all your energy on convincing Shailene. She's too loyal to her cause."
Shailene shrugs, throwing her braids over her shoulder. "What she said." Plus, I would rather die. Even making deals with Yuno makes her feel like she needs to take a nice, long shower.
"What if I had information on Evie?"
Shailene stops breathing.
"Who's Evie?" Hani asks, breaking the silence with her slightly-too-loud voice. She looks back and forth between Shailene and Yuno, who are staring each other down.
"What do you know about Evie?" Shailene says, starting to feel light-headed.
Yuno shakes her head. "I thought you were too loyal to the cause."
Shailene's heart thumps loudly in her chest. "I- I am. But I'll pay you anything for that information."
Yuno tsks and pouts at Shailene in fake sympathy. "I told you, the Azure Dragons don't need money. It's just a theoretical question, Shailene."
"Of course it isn't."
"Now, don't get pushy." Yuno frowns, and there's a slightly harder edge to her voice. "I'm just saying, if you switch allegiances, I might be able to dig up some information."
Shailene's voice is ice cold now. "Or your own grave if you're hiding something from me right now."
"Shailene," Hani says softly, but Shailene can see the panic in her eyes. Yuno's not someone who takes kindly to being spoken a certain way. "I'm sure you don't mean that–"
Yuno bursts into a peal of laughter. Then another. And another, clutching her stomach from the seemingly never-ending pool of laughter. "People have told me you can be intense, but it always takes me by surprise!!" She continues to laugh and Hani smiles uncomfortably, clearly confused. "I have my ways, Shailene, I really do. It was a hypothetical question because I know you've been searching. Please don't take offense, dear."
"She doesn't," Hani says, squeezing Shailene's arm. Her nails dig in slightly and Shailene forces a smile.
"I'm sorry," Shailene says, dipping her eyes. "It's a sensitive subject for me."
"Clearly!" Yuno laughs again, passing the bottle over to Shailene. "Take another shot will you? I don't like tight asses in my apartment."
Shailene forces a smile. She takes another shot, the liquid scalding all the way down.
***
"Where were you last night?"
Shailene draws the hoodie tighter around her head, cutting Ragnar a death glare. "I was trying to convince Park Yuno to smuggle us more supplies."
Ragnar looks up from his cup of coffee. "You're hungover."
"Says you," Shailene scoffs.
Ragnar does not grace Shailene's remark with a response, and instead stares at her patiently. After a few seconds, Shailene sighs.
"I had to get out of this stupid town," Shailene says. They've been holding a temporary base in an abandoned office building tucked away in a small decrepit town called Mercury, Nevada. With Fiona's apartment being abandoned and the car gone, they figured that she skipped town. Sacramento's a bit too high-profile for Left Behind to stay in for too long, but Nevada's still close enough to have all of the gang connections that Boulder lacks. They've been keeping an eye on local activity, in case anyone hears of any Korean monks blowing things up. Not the best method, but it was all they had.
"You can't be pulling stunts like this," Ragnar says, looking out the window. Not that there's much to see, except for a run-down diner run by some lonely Italian man. "We're not safe here."
"I know," Shailene says, feeling more irritable than usual. Hani wouldn't let her push it anymore last night, talking non-stop about inane topics until they left Yuno's apartment. But Shailene can't help but shake the feeling that Yuno wouldn't have mentioned Evie if she didn't know something...
Ragnar clears his throat awkwardly. "Should I be worried about you... and Hani... and Tran?" He looks as though even finishing the question has taken years off of his life span.
At a loss for words, Shailene stares at Ragnar incredulously. "I'm 29. I don't need you to worry about me in that way. God, you're not my dad. ."
"No, I'm your commander, and I'm worried about my agents."
"Are you commanding agents' sex lives? Do you want a daily report?"
"What's gotten into you this morning?" Ragnar raises an eyebrow at her. A bunch of maps and documents are spread out in front of him but he clearly doesn't care to get straight to business today.
"Nothing," Shailene snaps. She isn't particularly sure why she's taking it out on Ragnar, but nothing feels right today. "I'm just sick of this sometimes."
"You are always free to take a vacation, if you'd like–"
"No." Shailene looks at him, the Swedish scholar who had first come to America all those years ago as a material scientist specializing in rare earth metals. The man her parents had trusted with their lives when they founded We Are Behind together. "Sometimes, I'm sick of having to hide. Sick of not being able to do what I really want. Sick of losing my twenties to some higher cause."
Ragnar nods slowly and turns to the window. "I'm sorry," he says. Shailene knows that the feelings she's describing are exactly what he was afraid of when he first asked her to join Left Behind. But he'd still asked her regardless, right?
"This could have been over a long time ago if you didn't derive some sick joy out of this," she says flatly. There's no forethought, no anything — the words just come out. Shailene's wondered this for a while, but she's never had the audacity to voice them out loud.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"We should have cloned Seraph when we had the chance to," Shailene says, furrowing her brows together. The more she thinks about it, the angrier she gets. "We could have ended everything with an army. We'd have a new government, and we'd be on the path to fixing this all. But you can't have that, can you? Because this is what you've dedicated your life to."
Ragnar turns towards Shailene, and she sees unbridled fury in his pale blue eyes. "I will not be accused of this, Shailene." He looks wounded, but a steely anger coats his words. "We can't just stoop to their level. We still have to act humanely and ethically, and that just isn't in the cards when you're forcibly cloning someone–"
"It just sounds like you don't care about the cause enough–"
"I'm the number one most wanted in this country–"
"And I'm number two," Shailene says icily. She can't even bear to look at him anymore. She stares out the window, at the isolated diner. Only one car frequents in the parking lot, strolling along the parking spots as though it couldn't just park anywhere.
Ragnar sighs deeply, still trying to keep his cool. "You turn 30 this year," he says quietly. "30 is young — considering all the surgeries you can get these days. You'll likely stay healthy until... the inevitable end. I'm not forcing you to be here. I'd respect your decision if you left us and found your own life but I won't tolerate your unfair accusations."
A couple gets out of the car, looking happy as a clam. Through the anger, Shailene feels a wash of sorrow — what would her life been like if her parents had never gotten involved? If she'd grown up just like everyone else? She can't imagine any other life than this. "It's too late for me."
Ragnar sighs again. "It's not too late, Shailene. You can find a life in some small town, where McNamara and his team would never look. Fiona could build you a new identity and create all sorts of new profiles for you. And you can find a job somewhere, doing something simple, where you'd never touch a weapon again. It won't be a comfortable life, but it'll be a life nonetheless."
But Shailene's not listening. The couple has reached the door now, about to disappear from her view. Something about the way the girl on the right is slouched over, with her hands in her pockets...
"Hello?" Ragnar says. "I'd appreciate it if you'd listen while I speak to you—"
"It's Fiona," Shailene says, grabbing her coat. "And Seraph. You can finish your sentence later."