Ben's P.O.V.
The new weight on my back would take some time getting used to, but he said that I only had a few days to train with it before my first mission.
Psycho had designed a new suit for me, with silver metal feather-shaped shoulder pads, that were connected by two chains that were strung behind my neck. The suit also had an open back, showing the wings brand that was etched between my shoulder blades.
Breathing heavily, I retracted my wings and sat down on the bench that rested on the far wall of the training room. I had just finished running ten miles on the treadmill with my wings out. They were bigger now, and more in tune with my mind. A simple command, and it was done.
Staring blankly at the opposite wall, I waited, the ticking of the clock my only companion. Murmuring inside my head, I counted down three, two, one... and right on time, the door opened, revealing Psycho standing in the entrance, looking down at his clipboard.
"Agent 5, you have completed training." He looked up, meeting my eyes. "And it's only been eleven days. Impressive."
I sat there, staring at him. It could not not be impressive. I had a job to do. And the only way for it to go smoothly would be if I completed training perfectly.
Psycho smiled. "It's time for your first mission." My heart beat faster, and I drummed my fingers against my thigh as I waited impatiently for him to sit down beside me. "But first, you're going to need the backstory." At my confused expression, he continued. "For the reason why you are targeting this certain person."
He took a deep breath, and began.
---
The four of us, Mania, Delirium, Insanity and myself were eager and ready for our first mission as a team. The agency had prepared us the best they could, and now it was our turn to go and make a difference in the world. Well, that's what they told us. It just wouldn't be in the way any of us were expecting.
"Catch!" Mania called, throwing my gear at me. I caught it expertly and shook my head at the twenty-five year old. He was always trying to catch me off guard, but he had yet to succeed in his antics.
"Nice try," I started buckling the weapons onto my belt. "Better luck next time."
"Boys," Insanity shook her head as she walked into our small dorm room, and my cheeks reddened. She was always acting as a mother hen among us, even though she was the youngest, at twenty years of age. Her raven black hair shone in the florescent lighting of the room, and as her eyes met mine, I had to look away.
"Come on, slow pokes, or we're going to be late!" Delirium hurtled into the room, screeching to a halt. "The car's ready, and I call shotgun!"
Mania rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll drive."
We all headed out, with our director, seeing us off at the door. She stood there in her crisp navy suit, with pride glimmering in her eyes. We all drew ourselves up, basking in her gaze.
"Good luck, agents," she stated, holding the door open. "I'm sure you're going to make us all proud."
"We will, Director Henlee," we chorused, and out the door we went, ignorant of our fate.
The ride to the location, was quiet, tense. There was almost no words spoken, except for the occasional 'are we there yet?' from Delirium. But too soon enough, we pulled up to the abandoned jail house, and parked a short distance away.
"Okay." Mania spoke as we all stopped outside the car doors, our nerves crackling in the quiet twilight air. It was mid-June, and the weather was pleasant, perfect for the mission. "We know what we have to do. The gang of five is supposedly hiding out here. We just need to go in there, apprehend them, and bring them back to H.Q.. Easy, right?" He chuckled, but the way his eyes flicked to the building betrayed his nerves.
"Yeah." I spoke up. "We got this, guys. We'll be fine. I promise." I met Insanity's eyes. "We'll be okay."
Delirium tapped her hand over her mouth, pretending to yawn. "Blah blah blah." She drew herself up. "Let's just get this over with." And with that, we stalked over to the dark one story building, and entered from the designated back window.
Dropping lightly to the floor, I surveyed the setting. No lights were on, and it looked mostly bare, except for the jail cells, which stood alone, shining strangely in the dim light that entered from the window.
Frowning, I motioned for Mania to come over. Stopping besides me, he raised an eyebrow. "What?" he hissed.
"Look," I pointed to the jail cells. "They've been out of use for years, but their shining like they've been polished? That doesn't make sense."
"Guys," Insanity whispered. "The walls are shining." She pointed to the faint luminescence coming off of the old concrete walls.
Turning to look, I saw Delirium sniffing the air. "Something's off here." Her eyes were frantic as they swept over the mostly-bare room. Her nerves were contagious, and soon we were all trying to spot what was wrong; it was as if we had forgotten about the original mission entirely.
A gasp broke out. My eyes darted to Insanity, who was standing with her hand out, pointing towards the doorway that led to the front of the building.
Creeping closer, I saw that a note had been pinned to the door. Squinting, my heart fell into my stomach as I read. You thought we would be stupid enough to stay here? Fools. Tell Director Tlurret we say hello.
Tell Director Tlurret we say hello. That could mean only one thing. I looked to Mania who had come to stand beside me.
"But he's dead," Mania spoke in his normal tone, no longer bothering to be quiet, as urgency of the matter took control of his thoughts.
"Exactly." I grasped the handle of the door and pulled, but it would not budge. Heart racing, I tried the window that we had entered from, but now it was locked as well.
And those were the only two exits.
"Crap." Delirium sprang back from the object that had fallen from its perch on a shelf in the corner of the room. Smoke spread out from the object, and it didn't take long for me to realize that it was halothane vapor, a sleeping gas.
"I feel dizzy, guys." I spun towards Insanity, the one who had spoken the words. She was leaning against the side of a jail cell. I took a step forward, but jolted as something splashed onto my face from above.
Swiping my forehead with a hand, I took a sniff of the silvery substance. My eyes widened, as the smell clicked into place.
"Mercury," I strangled out, frantically looking for another way to escape the jail house that had just become a death trap. Mania was pulling on the door, while Delirium was working on the window. I came over to Insanity, who was now on the floor, coughing.
"Hey, hey," I shook her shoulder. "Iris. Look at me." Her eyelids flickered open, and my gaze caught on the lavender-colored "I" that was embroidered onto her suit, similar to the "P" on mine, and the "M and "D" on the others.
By now my own head was starting to spin, and I had to sit down on the ground. Delirium was already out, sprawled on the hard floor, but Mania was still resisting sleep.
"They'll come for us, right? The agency? When we don't show up? Because long expose to mercury..."
"Of course." I answered Mania's question as confidently as I could. "I'm sure they will."
And before I plunged headfirst into the darkness, I whispered it again, this time as if trying to convince myself instead of the others."I'm sure they will."
Two weeks later, with food and water suspiciously appearing after every time we woke up from another sleeping gas grenade, we couldn't remember much about anything anymore.
It was as if our personalities had taken on a Jekyll and Hyde effect. We were all different.
Mania would sit still for hours, then suddenly jump up and want to play a game with someone. Delirium would rattled on unending about the things she was seeing, the illusions. Insanity would rage about everyone and everything, pounding at doors and walls, pulling on her own hair. And I, Psycho, would join her, sometimes yelling at the others or physically hurting them.
We eventually got out through a group of teenagers who had come to see the old jail house for fun, but instead discovered us four lunatics. They left the door wide open and ran for their lives, screaming all the way.
The four of us stumbled out, making it to a forest that was thankfully nearby and nearly falling into the creek that was refreshingly cool. Since we couldn't remember much about ourselves, we gave each other new names, corresponding to the state of the person and the initial on their suit.
Eventually we made it to civilization in a clearer state of mind, but not all the way "fixed". We never would be totally rid of our new personalities. They would stick with us forever.
Surprisingly, we were not stopped on our tirade. We made it to an abandoned subway station where we set up our new headquarters. We gave ourselves a mission, and began our work, vowing revenge on the people who tore away everything we knew from us and destroying our lives.
And that's how Marcus became Mania, Demi became Delirium, Iris became Insanity, and Peter became Psycho.
---
"And your first mission is to help us get our revenge by killing Director Henlee."
The statement took hold in my heart, singing in my veins. Kill Director Henlee, was my new anthem. Help the scientists get their revenge. After all, the deserved it. I knew better now that Mania and Delirium had spent days talking to me in my white room about the horrors that they had gone through, and about all the horrid people in the world.
They had told me that they had found me and chosen me to help them. Apparently, I had no recollection of anyone or anything except this place, and Mania, Delirium, Insanity, and Psycho.
They were here to help me help them.
And I would do whatever they asked of me.
Psycho slapped his knees and stood up, towering over me with his clipboard. "We will have three other men there to help get the... unimportant people out of the way, and give you a perfect, shall we say, shot, at Director Henlee."
I nodded my head, standing up as well. "Okay. I assume my new suit it in the lab?"
Psycho smiled again, his eyes crinkling. "Yes."
I headed out the door, body thrumming with anticipation. "Then we're all good to go."
---
I stood still, staring at my reflection in the mirror. With my wings out, my new suit look better than I would have though.
The door opened behind me and Insanity stepped inside, looking worried. Turning around, I retracted my wings and approached her. "What's wrong, Insanity?" The name Iris flitted through my mind before evaporating like smoke.
Insanity twisted her hands together in front of her. "Well, you're going on your first mission with us, and I was just wanting to make sure that you're going to be all right."
A smile graced half of my lips before they settled into a straight line again. "I'll be fine Insanity. I promise."
Her face blanched for a moment before a blank look came into her eyes, but she shook it away while drawing her hand out of her pocket. A glass perfume bottle lay there, the liquid inside splashing around. "Here, this is my good luck charm for you."
She quickly spritzed the lavender spray on and around me before stepping back and nodding her head confidently. "There you go. Nothing's going to go wrong now." Her face twisted in anger for a moment before the words, "And it anything does, I will make the person pay," rushed out.
Walking out the door with her, I said a quick goodbye before turning down a hallway and bumping into Delirium and Mania. In his hands, Mania was holding a metal bird mask, the black and ivory colors mutely shining. Gesturing with his finger for me to turn around, I did, and he slipped it on over my head, holding my chestnut hair in place.
Delirium sighed as I turn back to face them, tapping the ground with her foot. "There," she spoke. "The birds will protect you now. After all, you are one of them." Twisting away, she led the way down the hallway to the entrance, and Mania and I shared a confused glance before he shrugged and followed her, with me right behind him.
Seeing me off, they waved, standing at the door like proud parents, and I release and spread out my newly updated wings and took off, the three men on motorcycles below me.
I smiled into the night, as the lenses over the eye holes in the mask lit up, and information I needed scrolled past, including night vision and layouts.
Oh, the game was definitely on.
---
Jake's P.O.V.
There. Was. Freaking. Nothing.
For twenty-one days, we monitored every police radio station, every satellite footage, the news, everything, and there was nothing. Now, it was eleven forty-seven at night, and the final week was almost over. Someone was about to be killed, and we still hadn't even spotted where the scientists' hideout was, or who they were going to kill. I mean, who knew who they would they target? They were just a bunch of crazy lunatics who did things for their own enjoyment.
And who knows what they were doing to Ben. I sighed, ruffling my hand through my hair. A hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Lydia's sympathetic face. Her eyes had dark circles under them, and I was reminded once again that I was not the only one who loved Ben.
"Uh, guys?" Tom's voice rang out in the silence of Mrs. Waters' house, and I groaned internally, looking over the cluttered mess that used to be a living room, and over to Tom, who was monitoring the police calls.
"What." I was not in the mood for one of his practical jokes. Lydia smacked my shoulder, and I gave her an innocent expression, but I could tell that she wasn't fooled.
"A call just came in about a penthouse in St. Louis that was just broken into." Tom's anxiously excited eyes met mine, and I raised an eyebrow.
"So?"
"So?! This could be Bentley. See, it was rented out for a meeting earlier today by a Elizabeth Henlee, and that meeting was supposed to start at midnight. Pretty weird timing for a meeting, right? And one that would happen when an alleged murder would be taking place?"
I jumped up, coming around to look at the computer screen. "Let's go check it out. It has to be her. See?" I pointed at the screen that showed pictures. "There are windows that would perfectly enable her to fly up and open them, granting her easy access."
By now the others had gathered around, and Max and Liam ran outside to get the Agency cars up and running. Within minutes, everyone, including Ryan, was inside a car, and Tom was pulling up directions on how to get there.
"The drive should take us about forty-five minutes." Tom looked up from where he was seated in the front passenger seat.
"What?!" Max pressed on the gas pedal. "We don't have forty-five minutes, Tom, we have about ten." Max took his eyes off the road for a split second to glare at Tom.
Tom winced. "I'm sorry, this just came in! If I knew about it sooner, I would have told you sooner."
"Well, then, we'll just have to make do." Max flicked on the switch that opened up a panel for the lights and sirens that were on top of the car, and soon the eerie sound filled the air. Max pressed on the gas pedal harder, and leaned forward in his chair, as if urging the car to go faster through sheer will.
"You know, If you press on that any harder, you might-"
I cut Tom off. "Shut it, Tom."
And, for some reason that I guess I will never know, he did.
In a surprisingly fast twenty minutes later, we arrived in the parking lot of the penthouse. Slamming the car doors shut, we grouped outside the entrance. It was mostly quiet, but there was a few stray people here and there.
"Okay." Liam looked at the watch he wore on his wrist. "It's been about ten minutes after she was going to kill someone, so shouldn't there be police here by now?"
Max frowned. "There should be, unless there was no one in the room with the target, then no one would know until someone went up to that penthouse and saw the body."
Lydia stared up at the tall building, letting out a breath into the late April air. "We'll then, let's just get this over with."
Pulling the door open, we headed inside and past the front desk, where the man sitting there was giving us weird glances. Going over to the elevator, Tom pushed some buttons before the door closed and soft elevator music filled the air.
When the doors opened, a long hallway with a single door was revealed. Walking over to the door, I discovered that it was locked, of course. "Of course it's locked. I thought that it was weird that there was no other measure of security other than the front desk security cameras." I turned to Tom crossing my arms. "We'll Mr. I-know-what-I'm-doing, what do you have for us this time?"
Tom held out a hand, then pulled a device out of his pocket. Holding it over the lock in the door, he listened, waiting, for a few moments, before a definite click sounded, and Tom pushed the door open.
"Of course he has a lock device," I grumbled, falling behind to walk up the next flight of stairs in front of Max.
"What do you have against him, anyway?" Max glanced sideways at me with an amused expression.
"I don't know." I shook my head. Why didn't I like Tom? "Probably because Ben likes him," I murmured.
Max stopped walking. "What the hell, Jake."
I stopped as well, turning to look at him. "What?"
His eyebrows shot up, and he huffed out a laugh. "So you can move on with Mia and it's alright, but if Ben is friends with one guy, you're jealous?" Max shook his head, pushing past me. "Grow up, Jake." He continued walking, but flung words over his shoulder. "And leave my sister alone."
I stood there, stung by his words, before remembering why I was there, and continued to climb the stairs. At the top of the next platform was the entrance to the penthouse, and Tom was unlocking the door. From the plans online, we knew that there were two separate rooms in this particular penthouse.
Swinging the door open, the first thing I saw was the three male bodies on the floor, dead. Liam crouched down next to them, looking at the points of damage. Standing up, he met Taylor's eyes before looking at the rest of us.
"Did Bentley do this?" Ryan spoke for the first time in what seemed like forever, and his wide eyes were frantic as they met Liam's.
Liam shook his head, frowning at the bodies. "No. Trust me, you'll know when Ben's the killer."
At that moment, a clatter sounded from the other room, and we froze, exchanging glances with one another. Gesturing with my hand, I led the way into the other room, pulling my gun out of its holster on my suit, and flicking safety off.
The other room had no lights on as well, and except for the windows, there was no other source of light. A shadow flickered in the corner, and as we were at a disadvantage, with the person having a clear shot of us, but not vice versa, I lunged over to the light switch and slammed the light on.
They didn't come on.
The cables were cut. Crap. I could tell Max mirrored my thought as he suddenly crouched down and rolled behind a chair. I did likewise, but rolled in the opposite direction. The others were still in the original room, which was good since we had run out of chairs to hide behind.
A bright light suddenly flared to life in front of my eyes, and I squinted as Tom entered the room carrying a flashlight. Hissing, I held up a hand In front of my eyes, but turned in the direction that he was pointing the light. A figure stood in the silhouette of the window. With the curtains billowing around her, my jaw dropped as I gazed at Ben.
Max looked as well, and as his eyes landed on the figure, they widened. "Ben?"
It had to be Ben. No one else had those glistening metal wings of hers. But besides that, nothing else would have pointed out that the figure was Ben. Everything was different.
Her back was to us, and her new suit was half backless, showing off the tattoo of the wings that she had between her shoulder blades. At least now I knew where the idea came from. On her shoulders were new metal shoulder pads, elegantly shaped to look like feathers. Her hair was in a braided bun at the nape of her neck. I took this all in as one would cataloging in an inventory; it was probably the only thing that was keeping me from rushing forward.
She turned to look at us, and I lost my breath. She had a mask, now. A feathered mask, that resembled a bird. A faint fragrance wafted through the air, and I recognized the smell of lavender, the same smell that was in both of the envelopes that we had received from the scientists.
She made to jump, but Max sprang forward, flinging words put of his mouth. "Wait, Ben. It's us. Max, Tom, and Jake."
She paused for a moment, meeting each of our eyes in turn. As her eyes met mine, I could feel the blood draining from my face at the blankness in them.
"Oh, Ben." Tom murmured. "What did they do to you?"
She slowly returned her gaze to his, and pointed a steady hand to something on the floor by the wall nearest to the three of us.
"I would suggest leaving right now unless you want to end up like her. At least she got the death she deserved. I won't be able to say the same for you." Looking over, we saw the body of a woman who I assumed was Elizabeth Hunlee. She had been shot directly in the heart, and a sprig of lavender was resting on her chest.
A gust of wind hit me in the back, and I swirled around to see the the edge of a wing glinting in the light of the moon. Rushing over to the window, we all stuck our heads outside to see Ben's form disappearing into the night sky.
I opened my mouth to yell her name, but Max smacked a hand down over my mouth. Eyes blazing, I glared at him, but realized his intention when I saw a black SUV pull up into the parking lot, and a strange group of black clothed figures hurriedly running into the building.
Making our way back into the other room, we saw that the others were still crouched down, guns out. Motioning for them to stand up, we explained what had happened, with Ben, and to Elizabeth Hunlee.
"And," Max glanced furtively towards the door, "we're about to get more company."
Taylor frowned, following his gaze. "What do you-"
The door blew open, with smoke filling the room. The smoke detectors went off, and water came raining down on us all.
"Get ready," I called, raising my gun.
A figure approached slowly, appearing in the midst of the smoke.
And I saw something inexplicable.
Or so I would have thought.
If I had not known Ben.