THREE
"I NEED TO GO TO NEW YORK, SIR," Scarlett told her boss, sliding over a folder of the information on Anonymous she had collected over the past few days. It wasn't as full of evidence as she would have liked it to be -- but it was enough to prove herself to him.
When the men in her workplace first started being sexist to her, the Agent made a silent promise in her head to never let it get to her. Scarlett didn't have to prove herself to a man to prove that she was worthy of their time and respect, but it was harder to go by that rule when it was your own supervisor.
Chris sputtered out the coffee that had been in his mouth right back into the cup, his eyes widened. The man quickly regained his posture, straightening out his shoulders. He took the handkerchief from his shirt pocket, wiping his lips with the small piece of cloth. "What?"
"I need to go to New York," she repeated.
The blond folded the blue patterned handkerchief carefully, tucking in back into his shirt pocket. "Scarlett, I can't let you do that," Chris sighed, looking at the woman knowingly.
"Why not, sir?"
Scarlett refused to give up on it this easily.
The brunette had worked hour after hour tirelessly with scraps of evidence -- desperately trying to connect the dots. With new leads popping up left and right with the help of Kaden, why was Chris so intent on her staying here? The woman knew that if she were any other Agent in this building, he would have already given her the permission to go.
"New York is a dangerous place," Chris began. "Do you know how many Agents we've lost there in the past years? It seems to me that you're going after just any evidence you can find on this and that worries me. And with these protests and riots, your safety is at even more risk than it was before. We can't lose you."
Arthur, Hugh, Richard, Liam, and Benjamin were the five Agents whose lives had been lost to a drug cartel in New York. Their names had not been forgotten.
New York was a dangerous place, but what Chris failed to realize was that Scarlett was required to go through self defense classes every single month along with the more common types of training. Firearms, handling knives, talking with terrorists and negotiation. The woman could handle herself.
Besides, Scarlett knew that with the protests in the streets — she was more likely to be shot in the face with a rubber bullet by a racist cop than to be beaten up and killed by another protester.
"I'm not going after any evidence I can find," the Agent defended herself, anger boiling in her chest at his blatant sexism. "If I was, I would be requesting to go to Chicago."
"So if you aren't going after scraps of evidence, what are you searching for in New York?"
"Legion, an elite club hidden in the city. Members of Anonymous likely meet up there to discuss future plans." Scarlett grabbed the folder off of the table, flipping through and taking out separate photographs. She placed them down on the table to show him. "Men wearing the Guy Fawkes mask have been seen walking out of Legion. I was also able to pin down the locations of a few new recruits, which most of them pointed to this exact spot."
Scarlett would leave Kaden out of this for now. She hated taking credit for his work, but her boss would be angered to know she had received help from someone in IT, not an Agent.
"How do you know this isn't a trap, Pierce? They wouldn't hesitate to kill you."
"I am the only woman in this building," Scarlett informed him with a smirk. "They would be expecting your men, who are out in the protests. It's likely they aren't even aware of my existence. And if it is a trap, I'm ready for it."
Chris nodded. "I'll be sending Agent Garcia with you."
William Garcia? Hell no.
Almost every man here was a sexist, William included. He was a kiss up to Chris, always wanting to please him and prove himself as the "best" Agent. The man was ready to rat out any of his colleagues if it meant his career would be boosted forward.
If anything, William Garcia was someone she did not want by her side.
"What? Sir, this is my first—"
"Your first mission, I know."
"Then let me go alone."
"Not without protection."
"Fine," Scarlett gave in. "But if you're going to send Agent Garcia with me, you're also going to send Kaden Braun."
"Mr. Braun is IT, not an Agent."
"Mr. Braun has the ability to hack into almost any system that he pleases. If I am going to infiltrate Legion, we need his skill to help me. He is the brains of this mission."
She hadn't originally though of bringing along Kaden to New York. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that he could help in many ways. Cameras, hidden files, phones, ear pieces.
"If I send Mr. Braun alongside with you, you'll cooperate with Agent Garcia?" Chris asked her with a raised eyebrow. "Agent Garcia is there to protect you, not hurt you."
She had a hard time believing that, but the woman nodded her head in agreement anyway. "Yes. I'll cooperate."
•••
THE CAR DRIVE TO NEW YORK with both Kaden and William wasn't as bad as Scarlett had originally thought it would be. Chris had offered to send all three of them on a plane straight there, first class. But the woman rejected the offer, claiming that if Anonymous knew of their plans, they could easily track them from an airport right back to their hotel.
The entire drive William had attempted to make small talk with the two of them, but had failed miserably. It became quite obvious that without his sexist friends around him, Agent Garcia was utterly out of place. And very, very lonely.
To fill in the silence, Scarlett decided to put on the Beatles Channel on the radio. There were no complaints afterward.
And upon arrival of their hotel — Scarlett requested three separate rooms, all on the same floor, preferably on a lower level. She wasn't going to risk asking for a room with three beds and for them to end up with one.
"A lower level?" William had asked her. "I thought you would be the type to like the views."
"We aren't here for the views, Garcia. I thought you would be the type to know that."
The next day had been spent with Scarlett and Kaden trying their best to formulate a plan. None that seemed good enough had come to the surface.
"Why don't you just... go in as bait?" William requested from across the room, flipping carelessly through a magazine.
"Go in as bait?" The woman repeated. "No."
"Not bait as in we're going to get you killed. Bait as in—"
"Scarlett," Kaden interrupted, "He's saying that you have to act like a whore to get closer to the members."
"Oh."
They formulated their plan off of that — and Scarlett for once thanked William for something.
She would enter Legion, stay at the bar for a bit and get to know a few of the men more closely. Scarlett was quite worried about this plan, knowing that she wasn't as skilled in the subject of acting. But if it meant that she would be closer to more members of Anonymous, it was worth it.
"So are you in on this, Scarlett?" Kaden had asked her. "If you say no, we'll find another way."
"I'm in."
•••
SCARLETT TUGGED AT THE EDGE of her dress, trying to pull it down to the best of her abilities. It was too short for her liking. If she were to trip and fall over on the ground, everything would be in view. How did other women manage to wear these types of dresses so flawlessly?
"Scarlett, it's not that short," Kaden tried to reassure her.
"Not to you it isn't."
The two of them rode in the backseat of a taxi, while William was instructed to stay one block away from the club before entering to keep an eye on Scarlett. They had gotten lucky to get the taxi — traffic wasn't as bad as it had been yesterday.
"You have your earpiece?" Kaden whispered.
"Yes."
"Your... phone?" The phone he mentioned was actually a taser. It was tucked in her bra. She nodded.
"You should be good then. If you press the button I showed you earlier, the audio will be activated and we should be able to communicate," Kaden explained, guiding her hand to show her the button again. "If it doesn't work, I'll activate the audio myself from my station."
"We're here," the taxi man called.
Scarlett opened the car door for herself, exiting and leaning her head in to say goodbye to Kaden. He had already fished out his wallet and was handing the driver twenty dollar bills. "Wish me luck."
"Always," he smiled. "Remember the password?"
"Of course."
Scarlett leaned out, shutting the car door. The taxi drove off almost immediately, leaving her alone on the sidewalk. People walked by, some rather quickly while others stopped to take pictures. The woman ignored them, making her way to the entrance.
According to Kaden, the club was "hidden". While many knew of its existence, they couldn't get in because they didn't know the password.
The woman approached the man waiting at the front door, offering a smile at him.
"Password?" He asked.
"We Are Legion."
NOTE
Can I ask all of you a favor? I've been "advertising" this story on TikTok, which is actually how I got most of you to start reading. If any of you see any fan edits or posts about Anonymous on your For You Page, could you link this story in the comments so others can read it too? Thank you. 🥺
EDIT: This chapter has been edited as of June 9th, 2020. I wanted to say thank you for sharing this story to your friends and to TikTok, it really has come a long way from the start.