The Times, They Are A'Changin' - Codenames: Nathaniel and Yurei
Once he'd been cleansed of the blood and trappings of his operation gone wrong, the first thing he did was tend to his injuries, taping up his ribs and resigning himself to the knowledge that he'd have to be careful, take it a little easier for a while.
The second thing he did was to give himself a decent dose of polypseudomorphine, the drug chasing away his pain and soothing, slowing, the pace of his racing and panicked mind.
The third thing he did was open a secured channel to headquarters, keying in the access codes, the encryption keys, until at last the visage of another ONI operative greeted him, almond-shaped eyes flicking over him with a moment of genuine concern.
"What happened, Nate?"
"To say things have gone to shit are an understatement, Yurei." Nathaniel chuckled bitterly, before uttering a slight hiss of pain as he lowered himself into a chair. "You told me that Project: JERRY RIG had been wiped clean."
"No, I told you I did everything humanly possible to ensure every trace I could find was removed," Yurei replied, drumming gloved fingers against his desk a few times. "I never told you it was wiped clean, and you know that."
"Right, my mistake, I'll remember that the next time some goddamn operative blindsides me with information in trade like that again!" Nathaniel snapped. "Second bone I have to pick with you, why the hell didn't you tell me Sterling was augmented!?"
"Why the hell haven't you bothered reading any of the followups I've been sending you?" Yurei's eyes narrowed, the drumming of his fingers slowing to a stop. "Dropping the ball isn't like you, Nathaniel..."
"I've been fucking busy playing bitch-boy to that-"
"How often have you been using?"
The question hit him like a slap in the face, but he found he couldn't bring himself to respond, simply look away from the camera.
"... More than I should be." He admitted, after several minutes. "I can't, Yurei. I can't stop."
"Right well, forcible detox it is when you return to us," Yurei sighed wearily, unconsciously rubbing at his right shoulder for a moment hard enough to be uncomfortable to any onlooker. "Fill me in, what's happened?"
It didn't take long for Yurei to be brought up to speed, and when Nathaniel finished the other operative looked vaguely preturbed, displeasure visible on his porcelain-doll face.
"That's not Seraph's style..."
"No, it's not." Nathaniel admitted, sighing heavily. "Which leads me to believe we've been pursuing the wrong leads all this time... and that is a terrifying prospect now, isn't it?"
"Bringing Sterling in is going to require a heavier presence of our people on board," Yurei sighed, running fingers through his hair wearily. "But aside from him, or this Codename: Toadstool, I can't fathom who to interrogate as to whom actually started this operation against us. Seraph's people were involved in the intial coup that was planned, definitely... But there's no way they were involved in the execution of it, the way everything went down. As much as I hate that face-changing whore, I think that in this case he's actually only a semi-culpable fall-guy."
"I'd say you're right, and this shit goes way higher than either of us wanted to dream," Nathaniel closed his eyes, leaning his head back wearily. "There are easier ways to make people disappear, easier ways to pull coups - this shit was intended to either send a message, or to utterly obliterate both Special Weapons Division and CovertOps Division entirely."
"You thinking who I'm thinking?"
"Why wouldn't Parangosky want to eliminate two of the most powerful men in ONI, before putting her heir on the path to office?" Nathaniel replied, opening his eyes tiredly after a moment. "And it worked, didn't it? Ackerson's dead, Seraph's off-balance and politically hamstrung at every turn, Osman's closing the noose around his neck more and more every day..."
"There's a great deal going on here that I don't like," Yurei admitted, biting his lip for a moment in thought. "Home Office is tense right now - everyone knows that Seraph's division is going to be dissolved any day now, that Osman is toying with him to work out the last little shreds of information she'll need before proceeding to clean house fully. It's the end of ONI as we know it. Section 0 may well cease to exist outside of internal oversight."
"Christ..."
"Cassandra and Iscariot are trying everything they can to find out what Seraph's plan is."
"Either way the bastard deserves to go down," Nathaniel grumbled.
"And he will, eventually. But right now, we may need the pull of his rank, if it comes to it." Yurei held up a hand to silence any protests from Nathaniel. "Hear me out. Like him or hate him, the man is a Vice Admiral. That rank carries weight. Osman has no choice but to kill him outright, or have him stand trial for his division's dealings in the past, though I'm willing to say that will be the route she goes. Closed trial, same as Halsey."
"... Because if she pulls that, his operatives will be picked off one-by-one trying to jailbreak him."
"Bingo."
"... Yurei, how did everything fall apart?"
"I ask myself that everyday, old friend." Yurei shook his head, taking a sip from the cup sitting near him on the desk. "This isn't anything like the military, or the Office, we signed on to serve. Get some rest, Nathaniel. I need you operational as soon as possible. I'll start working on another cover for you."
"Yessir," Nathaniel nodded wearily.
"And Nate?"
"Yeah?"
"Watch the pseudo. I mean it. He wouldn't want to-"
"Save it, Yurei."