Alev, before Anthrax: Too tired to work, too poor to quit, too "old" for a sugar daddy... Not in a good shape to strip......... Sigh [goes back to work]
The two sides of this arrangement meet for the first time.
“Hm.. is this thing on?”
The diamond- shaped object flickered slightly, as the user fumbled to get it to function properly. “Agh.. ethereal mechanisms are never easy… why do they always make this so difficult to use..?” Shaking and prodding the thing in their hands was a tall female, struggling to figure out the strange object in her hands, occasionally pushing the fringe of her platinum blonde hair from her reddish eyes. Seemingly through this method of poking, prodding and pressing, the top half of the diamond object swung back like a lid, and the girl naturally jumped back slightly in surprise. “Come on Faye, there is no way you broke it that easily, right..?” Muttering nervously to herself she looked inside, expecting to see nothing to confirm that yep, you broke it, but instead being greeted with one singular symbol. Breathing a sigh of relief she pressed the button gently, and was greeted with the shimmering reflection beaming out from within the object. “Aha! Ok ok, um- R.O.P Date 1..?”
“I have managed to access the Rejuvenation Plane, which no one- which I did not think would be possible for me to achieve, so I am feeling pretty good!” Faye started, a proud smile on her face. “The other half has yet to arrive, as you can probably tell by my lack of-“
“Seriously? Already with the stupid report things? I knew the angel was here already but honestly.” She was quickly cut off by an annoyed woman’s voice, and just like that, her back jerked slightly, as two cloud-like wings popped out from her back, stretching themselves out.
“Oh! Uh, report out!” The angel quickly dipped to the object, pressing the symbol and watching relieved when the projection zipped back inside. Picking up the object in her hands, she turned to see who had spoken, all the while trying to close the object back up.
Who greeted her when she turned around was a short young lady, short and wavy black hair framing her face in a bob, with eyes matching Faye’s own, fiery and red. On her head, two slightly curved horns, and on her back, two greatly arched wings, black and a deep red. “So... demon-“
“Lili.” The woman corrected curtly, eyebrows furrowing.
“Right, Lili, ok... well, it’s uh... nice to meet you..?” Faye fumbled, fighting with the object in her hands still, while trying to figure out a good way to talk to the other girl. Faye had ever met a demon before, they weren’t welcome on Angel terrain, and the other girl was mildly intimidating to her. The demon however, just smirked slightly. Looking at the object in Faye’s hands, she chuckled lightly and with one flick of the lid, she shut the object, and held out a hand.
“Likewise.” Her voice was smooth, calm, collected, if not a little tired. Faye hesitated a moment, feeling a bit embarrassed, before taking the other’s hand.
“Y..Yeah, likewise.”
—
“R.O.P date 1. Um, I managed to get in ok! So, um, no worries about that! I have met with Lili- um, the other half of this conscience. She is.. alright. She-“
“Oh c’mon, not this again, really?” With an arm suddenly slung around her shoulder, Faye flustered quickly, looking at the other girl and nodding.
“Yes, this again- it has to be done sooner or later-“ she spoke, only somewhat sure of herself, as she messed with a strand of her hair. Lili slumped further on the angel’s shoulder, before looking at the projection with a raised eyebrow. “This was the thing you couldn’t use? A hologram?”
“It is, um, a recording device. It shows us, and we speak into it, and then, it, I assume sends it to the other Angels..?” The blonde explained, sounding a bit confused as she at the very least tried to sound like she knew what she was doing. “You- you can do it with me if you wish-“
“Well it would help if you actually pressed to record.” The demon snickered slightly, watching as Faye realised that yep, she never actually started it, so she was completely just talking to herself, only able to mutter out a small ‘oh’ as Lili pressed the button.
“Um, R.O.P Date-“
“Hey to all the beings up there, we’re here and we’re good- human ain’t here tho, no clue where they could be, so-“
“You can not just say that! Have some manners for the Elite Angels!” Faye was quick to stop the other girl, however she just shrugged in response.
“Why not? They have no respect for us anyway, may as well treat ‘em the same way.” Lili quickly replied, before continuing. “The human ain’t here though, but we don’t know how this works, since you never told us, y’know?” She rolled her eyes, before Faye spoke up quickly.
“Um! I apologise for her rudeness, but she is still correct, um- other than that, everything has gone well! So that will be it for this report!” She stumbled over some of her words just trying to finish the report up, while praying the higher-ups wouldn’t completely destroy her for it.
Lili scoffed slightly, yet got the point anyway, and waved a dismissive hand at the device. “Yeah, yeah, we’re done, ok? You can shut the thing up- we’ll report more at a later date or whatever~”
“Y-Yeah, that is right! Um, R.O.P Date 1, report out!”
Characters: India, Delta, X-Ray, Uniform, Zulu, Golf and Jacqueline Forbes
Word Count: 3,685
Trigger Warning: Swearing, Violence, Blood, Death
A/N: The end. It’s pretty long too and I am sorry about that. I tried my best with this little India Company adventure and there are a few things I wish I changed but I hope whoever reads this like it.
Parts: X, X, X, X, X, X
Summary: The gang heads to New York to track down a bank CEO suspected of running an underground gambling ring. But surprises come in all shapes and sizes. And the truth is always what you least expect it to be. Click that read more if you want.
XXXXX
When she came for him he didn’t know what to expect. He hadn’t been in a situation like this one since he was young. He had spent every waking moment trying to prevent this exact thing from happening. Feeling like a helpless young boy was the last thing he wanted. The door opened slowly, letting in a small portion of light, and she walked down the stairs.
She crossed the floor in silence and stood less than a foot away.
The woman said nothing as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to a standing position. Quickly wrapping a black cloth over his eyes and ears; she blocked out his sight and muffled his hearing. She told him to be quiet and not to worry. He nodded and let her take his hand. Remaining as silent as a stone he let her guide him up the stairs and out of the basement.
Just like that Uniform was that little kid he tried so hard to stop being.
Helpless, afraid, and alone.
Memories of years before, of things he wished he could forget, flooded his brain. The situation was all too familiar. Every single detail was almost the exact same; from the blindfold to the cuffs on his wrists. He hated how he felt at that moment. He hated it back then and hated it even more now. He wasn’t supposed to be in this position.
It was supposed to be the opposite.
He heard a door open and was shoved inside a room. Hearing the door shut, and lock, behind him sent a nervous shiver down his spine. Forbes sent him falling onto the bed with a hard shove. Uniform did not like anything about this. He felt the mattress sink as she climbed on top.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”
He didn’t know what to do so he just nodded silently.
He could feel the bed move as she moved closer to him. She unlocked the handcuffs and removed them from his wrists. Then she did the same to the cuffs around his ankles. He let out a small sigh. Sexual kinks were one thing but he had a line and he drew it at cuffs. She reached behind his ears and undid the blindfold. It delicately fell on to the bed without a sound. Then with no warning or ask for permission she started to kiss him. Her hands grabbed his and put them on her body.
“Let me,” he said.
Then he took control of the situation. Turning her on her back he got on top of her and started to run his hands down her arms. Grabbing the end of the shirt she wore he pulled it over her head. Uniform threw the shirt behind him and it landed on the floor silently. With her shirt off he moved to unbutton her pants.
“I’m not going to have to worry about you getting clients pregnant am I?” she asked grabbing his wrists violently.
“You won’t need to worry about that from either of us,” he said.
Forbes cocked an eyebrow; silently urging him to reveal more. Uniform was unsure of how much he could actually say. And how was he supposed to say it so that she wouldn’t catch on to the reality of things. If she found out the truth then his plan would fall flat. If that happened there was a high possibility that neither of them would survive the night. After a minute or two he sighed and summed it up for her.
“Mom and dad, they, were conservative and strict to put it lightly. When they saw that Zo and I were growing up they felt the need to put a stop to it. But that wasn’t the end of it. They took it upon themselves to make sure none of us could have children.”
“Your parents did that to you? Oh my gosh, how awful!”
Uniform said nothing.
“So… Zoe and Urban are your real names then? And you two are actual brother and sister?”
“Adoptive siblings, so to speak, yes. But we are lovers off and on as well. To be quite frank I love her more than anything in the world and I’ll do anything I can to keep her safe.”
“Sentiment,” he said with a shrug.
She started to say something else but he shut her up with a deep kiss. He knew exactly what he was doing. Forbes would not be getting the upper hand this time. Uniform just got it and was not about to give it back. Moving to kiss her neck he reached down and unbuttoned her pants; pulling them off her legs. As he ran his hands up her thigh, to remove her underwear, she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. Then he threw her panties to the floor as she tossed her bra to the side of the bed.
Only then did he take his boxers off.
When they finished Jacqueline got up and started to redress herself.
“That was good,” she said. “Not the best but good.”
“Trust me, ma’am, I can do better.”
“We’ll see about that.”
With that she left and closed the door behind her; locking it.
XXXXX
Zulu came to with a splitting headache and the feeling like she was about to hurl. Blinking the nausea away she surveyed her surroundings. The room she was in was not the basement. That much was clear. But the room was dark and she couldn’t see much.
What is it with this woman and drugging people?
She reached around and tried to get a feel for her surroundings. Her hand hit something that felt like a foot and she jerked back in shock.
“Hello, little one.”
“I get that I’m short but you have got to stop calling me that. What do you want anyway? Come to beat on me some more?”
“I know I bite but I mean well. Trust me, I really do.”
Zulu scoffed; “You expect me to believe you?”
Forbes nodded.
She laughed loudly; throwing her head back.
“Is something funny?”
“Yes. You, you thinking that you have some power over us. Newsflash, lady. You know nothing about us and we know everything about you.”
“Oh, really?”
“You really think we’d come at you half-assed? Seriously? Boy do I have news for you! I had been listening to your phone calls, and he had been tailing you, for an entire week before we met you.”
“You think you’re so smart but you had no fucking idea about us until we wanted you to.”
“And who has the power now?”
She had wanted to hit this woman before but she wanted to do it even more now. She didn’t care about what would happen after. None of that mattered. And besides this woman kidnapped people and forced them to be sex workers. There was no reason for her to stay alive.
“I promise I will bury you alive.”
Jacqueline smacked her across the face.
But Zulu was done with this bullshit. She had enough of this woman and her stupid little games. She wanted more than anything to put a bullet between this woman’s eyes. It was bad enough that she had sex with Uniform. But if she was being honest with herself Zulu wasn’t upset about that. The thing that pissed her off the most was that Forbes got the upper hand on them. That she abducted them, kept them in fucking basement, and ripped a nail off her finger just to break them down.
Unbeknownst to Forbes they had been broken down years ago and could not be broken any further.
“You are so dead for that.”
Forbes ignored her comment and turned her back; started to walk out of the small room. But she stopped short in the doorway. Then she turned back around and stepped back inside. Closing the door behind her she locked the two of them inside. She ripped a piece of cloth from the dress Zulu wore; it was already dirty and slightly tattered thanks to spending hours cuffed in the basement. Shoving the cloth into Zulu’s mouth she wrapped a section of tape around her mouth.
Zulu blocked out the rest when she blacked out from the pain.
XXXXX
With Jacqueline gone Uniform got up and began looking around. He started with the bedroom first as he was still there. It was nothing special as bedrooms went. Nothing fancy or elegant was inside the room. There had to be something that was an indication as to where they were being held. Forbes was a smart woman, that much was clear, but there was no way she was that smart.
He started with the bed; removing the blankets and mattress cover. But the mattress was not hiding anything as far as he could tell. Then he moved on to the nightstand. Opening the small drawer revealed absolutely nothing. Not even a speck of dust.
Squeaky clean, he thought. What else are you hiding, Wacky Jacky?
As he searched the rest of the bedroom he tapped his ear comm. to life and sent out a call.
“X, Del, India, Golf? Anyone listening?”
A chorus of worried replies filled his ear. He let out a relived sigh; hearing their voices. Uniform patiently waited until they calmed down a bit to say anything. Besides he didn’t have much to say in the first place. Knowing only that the building had a basement and a ground floor didn’t help matters much.
“Zee-Bee and I are fine. Well, so to speak. Forbes abducted us, which you probably already know, but we’re both fine.”
Oh, thank god, Delta said relieved.
Where are you guys? X-Ray asked.
“Not sure. I was sort of locked up in a basement for the past few hours.”
How did you get out? India asked; curious.
“Simple. Coitus.”
Do you have to be so pretentious that you can’t even say sex? Seriously? X-Ray asked with obvious annoyance.
Un. Is Zulu with you?
“No, Del. She’s still in the basement.” Uniform said with a sad sigh.
Just keep your comm. on so we can find you.
How are we going to do that without Zulu? Golf asked the others.
Silence fell over the conversation. No one realized how important Zulu was to their operations until that moment. She did everything that had to do with the comm. system. Fixing them when they broke, catching interference from power lines or cell phone calls, and preventing others from listening in on their conversations. So naturally this job would have fallen to her.
I don’t know, Golf, but we’re going to have to figure something out, Delta said.
XXXXX
The team had regrouped at the safe house. And they all sat around the living room deciding what to do. They had enough information to get Forbes and pin her. But the problem was they still had no idea where she was. And where she was keeping their teammates. Or if they were all in the same place.
They just got off the comm. after a conversation with Uniform. But it had not brought them any closer to finding him and Zulu.
“How are we supposed to find them anyway?” Golf asked.
“Same way we always have,” X-Ray said. “We do have two solutions to this problem, after all. The triple tap and the trackers. So we pick one and run with it.”
“Exactly what I was going to say,” Delta replied.
After a short deliberation the team decided to use the trackers. They were rather old and somewhat unreliable but they had more advantages than the triple tap. For instance the trackers would pinpoint the exact location. There was too much possible interference on the comm. link without Zulu there to monitor it.
Golf got his laptop out and opened up the tracking program.
Golf decided to start off big with an entire map of New York state. He hoped it would be easier that way. He typed in both Zulu and Uniform’s serial numbers. There was the possibility that Forbes was keeping them in separate locations. They did not have room for error at the moment. Which was asking quite a lot from Golf.
“You okay?” Delta asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said with a nod.
He was lying to both himself and to the others. He was not okay in any sense of the word. The pressure was too much and his heart was beating way faster than normal. He could feel it. Golf knew he wasn’t skilled enough to do his job on a normal day. But all the pressure and time strains made it so much worse.
“I’m fine. I swear.”
Staring at the screen he waited for the blips to appear on the city map.
“How long is this gonna take you think?” India asked him after a few minutes.
Golf didn’t answer.
“Let him work, Indy,” Delta said.
“I’m just asking him a question, babe.”
“Why don’t we go get something to eat?” X-Ray suggested.
“Good idea, X,” Delta said with a smile.
None of them had eaten since the others went missing. And almost an entire day had passed. There was too much going on to even think about eating. They all were getting irritable and tired. Food was needed and it was needed now.
X-Ray and Delta got up and started to leave.
India stared at Golf; waiting.
“C’mon, Indy. Let’s go.”
“Fine,” she grumbled.
“You want to come with us, Golf?”
He shook his head and focused on the screen. Delta promised to bring him back something. He didn’t pay her any attention. His mind barely registered the sound of the back door as it closed. Once again he was alone in the safe house. But this time he was far too focused to be bothered by it.
“I found them, Delta. I found them.”
“We’re on our way.”
XXXXX
Zulu got up and took a fighting stance. She was not going down this time. Not again. Forbes had gotten the better of them far too many times that night. Her hands were curled into fists and raised; ready to strike. Suddenly the door of the closet burst open with a bang. Zulu swung a harsh left hook at whoever was there.
“Ow!”
Wait a minute…
X? How in the hell?
X-Ray stepped further into the room and ripped the tape off Zulu’s mouth. She spit the fabric out with a disgusted gag.
“Holy shit, X! I didn’t think that was you! Sorry!”
“You’re fine, Zulu,” he said; holding his nose in pain.
“Did you guys find Un?”
He nodded; giving her a once over. She was hurt a lot worse than he thought she would have been. Her dress was torn and dirty, both her shoes and jewelry were missing, and holes were in her tights. Blood was caked around the pointer finger on her right hand. Scuff marks were all over her palms and knees. It looked like there was some blood on her legs.
“Del, Zulu needs first aid,” he said into his comm.
You’re right there.
“I… I think it might be better if you do it,” he said quietly.
Alright I’m coming.
“No!” Zulu yelled. “I can do it myself. Just give your aid kit, X.”
X-Ray nodded and slung his duffle off his shoulder. Kneeling down he opened the second to last zipper pocket. Reaching inside he grabbed hold of the first aid kit. He held it out to Zulu and felt her grab it harshly. He zipped the pocket back up and readjusted the bag to his shoulder.
“You hear that, Delta? She’s going to give herself first aid.”
Copy that.
“I’ll give you privacy,” he said before leaving.
Meanwhile the others were about the small house. India was in the living room with Forbes; keeping an eye on her. She was tied up and currently unconscious. Golf and Delta were searching the place for any other evidence they could use. X-Ray walked into the living room and relieved India of her post.
“Where’s Uniform?”
“In the shower,” India replied. “He needed to wash the stink of this garbage off of him.”
She nudged her head in Forbes’ direction when she said this garbage. X-Ray was just glad that Uniform was safe. That Zulu was as safe as okay as she was. But he was even gladder that India was leaving. He was going to give this disgusting excuse of a human being what she deserved. When Jacqueline Forbes came back around she was going to wish she was dead.
Luckily for him the Ketamine was almost through her system.
It was bad enough that she played them.
They weren’t the best so that happened a lot. So that wasn’t that bad actually. Everything else she did was what angered him. He hated what he did with every fiber of his being. But at the moment he was glad he had knowledge he did.
Forbes stirred and slowly came to.
He took a knife out of his side pocket. Gripping it tightly X-Ray clenched his teeth. He knew that Zulu would have wanted to kill this woman. But he did as well. He stabbed the knife into her thigh and she screamed in pain. She fully came to and started crying for him to stop. X-Ray just smiled. Reaching into the front pocket of his duffle he took out a pair of pliers.
"You took her nail. I'm going to take all of yours."
A few minutes after he took her left hand pinky finger nail everyone came back to the room. Uniform was clean and showered. Zulu was still messy but as cleaned up as she could have been. She had done a pretty good job giving herself first aid after all. India, Delta and Golf had found a couple boxes full of paper evidence. And there was still the Macbook and Forbes' email. They had enough to justify anything.
“Are we going to let her live?” Zulu asked.
The others did not know exactly what had happened to her but they could tell that Zulu really wanted Forbes to die. Or to spend the rest of her life in pain. And that she deserved the worst possible punishment. Whatever they chose the punishment would not be enough.
“Do it,” India said.
“She deserves it.”
Zulu took a gun from X-Ray and cocked it. She put the muzzle against Forbes’ head. Her finger slowly closed around the trigger. Forbes stared at her with pleading eyes. Tears ran down the woman’s face as she pleaded with them to let her go. Just as she was about to full pull the trigger Zulu stopped.
Zulu dropped her gun hand to her side.
She turned to Delta and whispered something in her ear. The others looked at her with confused expressions. She just brought a finger to her lips. She was not going to give the secret away just yet. After a few minutes Delta came back inside with a couple of shovels in her hands.
Forbes’ eyes went wide in shock; “No! Please! Don’t!”
“Just shoot me, please,” she cried.
Zulu pulled her head back by a clump of hair. Pained tears rolled down the woman’s face. Zulu just smiled down at her.
“I made a promise and I tend to keep them.”
XXXXX
A few hours later Zulu dumped the last shovel of dirt on to the makeshift grave. They had dug it in the backyard of the safe house. It had taken them a few hours to dig the grave and to refill it with the woman inside. No one would have gone looking for Ms. Jacqueline Forbes in such a bad area. No one would find her for years. Even if they cared to look.
They all sat around the yard; tired and ready to go home.
Zulu spit on the pile of dirt. Uniform got up from the rock he was sitting on and walked over to her. Pulling her into an embrace he kissed her on the top of her head. Tears pricked at her eyes once again. But this time they were tears of joy. She was just happy to finally be out of that hell of a night. Uniform reached up and wiped them away with a finger.
X-Ray had stated gathering the shovels. With a two to a hand he walked them to the car. It was a bit too much seeing Zulu and Uniform like that giving the circumstances of things. And given the things he felt.
“You two will be okay, right?” Golf asked. “I mean you can’t have sunshine without having rain. Right?”
Delta, who sat next to India on the back porch, started singing;
I don't mind, no I don't mind, I don't mind the rain
The simple things and subtleties they always stay the same
I don't mind, that I don't mind, no I don't mind the rain
Like a widow's heart
We fall apart
But never fade away
They all sat around watching the sun rise and once they were finished India called Stevens for an extraction.
“Does he know what happened?” Golf asked; worried.
“No. And I intend to keep it that way.”
The gang walked around to the front of the house. Piling inside the car they were all tired and covered in dirt. Delta and India were in the front seats. X-Ray and Golf were in the middle two seats; on opposite sides of the car. Uniform and Zulu sat all the way in the back; intending on getting some much needed sleep. This mission had taken a tool on the both of them and they needed much more than a nap.
Zulu leaned her head on Uniform’s shoulder.
“Smells like someone needs a shower,” Uniform said curling up his nose.
She laughed lightly and nodded. It was true. She had to admit that she smell pretty bad; blood, urine and dirt. Not a very good combo.
“I don’t want to ever fucking do that again,” Zulu whispered quietly.
Characters: India, Uniform, Zulu, Golf and Jacqueline Forbes
Word Count: 2,818
Trigger Warning: Violence, Blood, Swearing
A/N: Part six. Nothing much to say here except that I’m trying my best to write this. I know it’s getting a little long but that tends to happen. Sorry if it’s too much.
Parts: X, X, X, X, X
Summary: The gang heads to New York to track down a bank CEO suspected of running an underground gambling ring. But surprises come in all shapes and sizes. And the truth is always what you least expect it to be. Click that read more if you want.
XXXXX
Jacqueline Forbes stood in front of him in all of her villainous glory. He couldn’t believe that he let her get the best of him. He was better than that. In any other scenario the shoe would be on the other foot. Uniform would be in her place and she would be begging at his feet. And Zulu would be conscious.
The drugs had made their way through his system so he could see clearly. Uniform could clearly make out his surroundings. Concrete floors and walls, no windows, the shape of a staircase slightly out of sight; all made the furnishings of an underground basement. That wasn’t much but it was a start at least. And he could see both Forbes in front of him and Zulu in his peripheral.
But moving was still out of the question. His hands were cuffed behind his back. And his legs were outstretched in front of him; shackled at the ankles.
Uniform was cold; shivering. Forbes had stripped him down to a tank top and boxers.
That was the last thing he needed.
She kneeled down so that her green eyes met his blue ones. He knew that she wanted to see fear in his eyes. But he wasn’t afraid of her. She was not going to get the satisfaction.
“You’re not Urban Monroe. There is no Urban Monroe. And that woman isn’t your wife. You don’t even know her let alone love her.”
That shows how much you know.
“How’d you know?” he asked; opting to play along with her for now. He needed to know her end game and this was the best way to figure that out.
“Please,” she said with a scoff. “You two made it so easy.”
“Fill me in. So we can fix our little operation.”
Forbes laughed lightly; throwing her head back. She then took a moment to fix her hair before responding.
“Oh, don’t worry, mister. You’re not going to go back to whatever pathetic life you had before.”
She reached out and ran a nail down his left cheek; cutting into his skin. But Uniform didn’t flinch as the blood dripped. That was nothing. He had gone through much worse in his lifetime. Forbes’ eyes widened in slight surprise when he smiled back at her.
“Is that all you’ve got, princess?” he asked with a smirk.
Jacqueline didn’t say anything. She just rose to her feet and walked away. But she didn’t walk very far. Stopping in front of Zulu she brought the end of her heel down on the woman’s thigh. Hard. Zulu, still somewhat drugged having no tolerance to anything, made a small pained sound.
Then the woman knelt down and shook Zulu’s shoulders.
Slowly Zulu came around and propped herself up to a sitting position.
“Welcome to the party, little one.”
Barely awake Zulu mumbled something no one understood.
Forbes turned back around to Uniform with a smile. He shook his head and opened his mouth to scream, but, he was too late. The woman sent Zulu reeling with a sharp backhand. Zulu rocked unsteadily for a few seconds; holding her cheek in pain. Wounded tears ran down her face. But Jacqueline wasn’t done with her yet.
Taking a small pair of pliers from her back pocket she shoved the edge underneath the nail on Zulu’s pointer finger. Closing the pliers she enclosed the nail between the two ends. Then, without warning, she pulled as hard as she could. Zulu’s nail came off with a bit of skin as well. The finger bled instantly and she shoved it in her mouth. As Forbes moved to take another nail from Zulu’s other hand she screamed.
“Stop, stop, stop,” she cried hardly understandable through her tears.
“STOP HURTING HER!” Uniform yelled desperately.
“Maybe I misjudged your relationship after all.” Jacqueline said with a slight smirk.
“What do you want from us?!”
“It’s quite simple, really. I have clients who have specific desires. They have made their wants very clear and are paying a small fortune for them. You and your small friend there fit perfectly.”
Uniform knew exactly what she meant by that. It was one thing for him to have to seduce the team’s targets. To have sex with total strangers. It didn’t matter to him anymore. He was numb in both body and mind. Completely unaffected by what was done to him all those years ago. That was why he was so good at his job in the first place.
But it was something else entirely to make Zulu do the same.
And for someone like her.
Regardless of if he wanted to admit it or not Zulu was his one and only weakness. He would do anything for her. He was narcissistic and cruel at times. Acted like she was just like all the other people he had been with. A short term fling and nothing more. Time and time again he told her that she had more feelings for him than he had for her. And that their relationship was not the two way street it seemed to be. But the truth was the complete opposite.
She was his world and he couldn’t live without her.
Just say yes, his mind yelled at him. It can’t be worse than anything else you’ve done.
Nodding he whispered; “Fine. I’ll do it. Whatever you want.”
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you,” she said. He knew she heard him fine. There was no way that she didn’t. But he knew the way she wanted things to go. And that if he wanted both of them to survive this then he had to play by her rules.
He repeated himself louder this time.
“Wonderful. That’s what I like to hear.”
Zulu just sat there crying.
“But I have one condition, ma’am, if I may,” he continued.
“Oh? So you do have manners after all. I like manners in my people. What are your conditions, boy?”
“Let her go.”
She didn’t say anything. Just got up to a standing position and made her way to the stairs. Walking up them in silence only the sound of her heels against the steps filled the room. Once at the top of the stairs she opened the door and stepped out. Standing in the doorway she turned back around and called out to Zulu.
“Don’t worry, honey, I’ll get you some ice. I think you two will come to learn that I can be very nice if you just listen and do what I say.”
“What about my condition, ma’am? You said you would let her go.”
“I never agreed to anything.”
With that she slammed the door and locked it behind her.
“What the fuck have you done?” Zulu cried.
“Don’t worry, Zee-Bee. I have a plan.”
“Oh really? Like your amazing plan that got us into this mess in the first place? I’m missing a fucking fingernail, Un! You’re just missing your clothes. Which is nothing new.”
Uniform moved across the floor as best he could; given the circumstances. Once he was close enough to Zulu he ran a hand through her hair. Tears still ran down her face. He wiped them away with his thumb and cupped her chin in his hand. He hated seeing her cry. Especially when he did something idiotic and was the reason she cried.
“Trust my love, babe.”
“What?”
“Trust me. Do you trust me?”
She nodded. She had no other choice.
XXXXX
Golf had cracked the code. It was easy to spot it now that he had figured it out. He felt like an idiot for not seeing it before.
The earliest emails were setting up a clientele of sorts.
High-profile business men and women were all requesting similar services. Services that someone like Jacqueline was well-versed in. Services that a certain member of their team pretty much provided free of charge. It didn’t really matter that those people ended up paying with their lives in a way.
After the first few emails some of the clients had gotten a lot more brazen in their requests.
Golf had to stop reading after he saw the words ten-year-old and twins.
He shook his head on disgust and scrolled back up to the top. Opening the most recent email he copied the text into a word doc and separated the sentences. It was far easier to read the actual message that way. The request matched the notes India found almost perfectly. But the text he read also added a bit too much.
A male and female.
Preferably couple.
Five-ten male.
Five-two female.
Ethnically diverse.
Preferably Native American and Hispanic.
That almost described Uniform and Zulu perfectly. The heights matched too well to be nothing more than mere coincidences. And the fact that this person specifically asked for a couple was also alarming. Golf wasn’t so sure about either of their ethnicities but Zulu could have had Hispanic features. She had dark brown eyes, tan skin, but that was about it as far as he could tell. And Uniform didn’t look like he was either of those ethnicities in any way.
But the matches were too much to ignore.
Golf tapped his ear comm. to life and made a call to India.
He told her what he found as quickly as possible.
That does verify some things at least.
That might have been the truth but that didn’t mean anything good necessarily. It just meant that India’s hunch was right. Forbes was in the sex trafficking game. And she abducted their teammates with the intent on using them for that purpose. Golf knew that it would not turn out good for anyone involved.
“Have you found anything else on your end?” he asked hopefully.
Not a thing. Can you find if that address from the request email is legit?
“I can try my best.”
That’s all I need.
XXXXX
An hour or so later Jacqueline came back down the stairs. With no words she unlocked Uniform and wrapped a blindfold around his eyes. Then she guided him out of the basement and locked the door behind her. The power play was utterly pointless. It wasn’t like Zulu was getting up and going anywhere any time soon.
With Uniform gone the basement went dead quiet.
They’ll find us, she said to herself. And besides, Un said he had a plan. It’s going to be okay.
Soon Zulu heard sounds coming from the upper level.
The sounds, and what they meant, were unmistakable. It was bad enough that she knew Uniform had sex with random strangers and had to listen in sometimes. But to hear it happening right above her head? That was something no amount of military training could have prepared her for.
She bit her lip and began humming a song to herself; trying to block out the sounds.
That’s your fucking plan!?
The noises, and the screams from Forbes, got louder as time passed. Zulu couldn’t take much more of it and starting kicking the floor. When that didn’t make enough noise she got up from the floor and began stomping as hard as she could. Then she started screaming. Anything to block out what she hearing.
Fucking her brains out is a great plan! Just great!
Tears began to fall down her face again as she sat there and listened.
Once she started crying she just couldn’t stop. Zulu had no idea how much time had passed or how long they were up there. But it left like ages had passed. Her cries turned into choked sobs and after a while they were the only sounds she heard. They blocked out everything else that she did not hear when the noises stopped. Or when Forbes opened the door and walked down the stairs.
“Oh, honey, are you okay? Why are you crying?”
She looked up and shot Forbes a look of death. If looks could kill Zulu’s kill count would have been in the hundreds by then. Forbes extended a hand and pulled Zulu up from the floor. Then she gestured for her to take a seat at the tale she had set up. Zulu reluctantly sat down; her suspicions rising.
“How did you even get into something like this?” Zulu asked honestly wanting to know.
Forbes shrugged; “This city might be The City That Never Sleeps and all but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sleep around.”
“Oh, and here I was taking pity on you. Thinking you had some hard knocks type of life that drove you to this point.”
“Well, excuse me, my fucking bad.”
Jacqueline Forbes wanted to have a civil conversation and act like everything was normal. She had brought in a wooden table with a white tablecloth, a couple of chairs, a pot of coffee and some cookies. Like the two of them were old friends catching up or something. Zulu thought that X-Ray’s assumption about Forbes being lonely might have been right. It was that or Forbes was trying to play mind games with her. Either way she was still pathetic.
Who in the hell tries to befriend someone they’ve abducted?
“There was that. But I choose to take the shit hand life dealt me and make my own happy ending out of it.”
Forbes poured a couple spoons of sugar into her cup and stirred. She spun the spoon around the bottom of the cup three times before removing the spoon. When she finished she tapped it against the edge of the cup. Then she set the spoon on the small plate; next to the cup.
“Don’t you want a happy ending?”
Zulu wanted to spit in the woman’s stupid, makeup-caked, Barbie-wannabe, face.
Happy endings didn’t exist. They were just lies everyone told themselves to stop from crying when bad things happened. Lies told to pretend that their shit lives, and horrible pasts, meant something in the end. But the truth was none of that mattered.
Keeping that life for as long as possible was all that mattered.
“The world isn’t about happy endings. It’s about taking the life you have and fighting like hell to keep it.”
Jacqueline Forbes’ face twisted in thought. Then she nodded; “Wise words. A little odd to hear them coming from someone so young.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
But the woman evaded her question by asking Zulu if she wanted to have some coffee. Then she asked if she was hungry and offered her a cookie. Zulu wasn’t born yesterday though. She knew that Forbes was just trying to appear nice. Trying to appeal to her sense of humanity.
Not that Zulu had much humanity felt.
“How long do we have to be here?”
“As long as it takes.”
“For what?”
“Oh don’t worry you’ll know when it’s over.”
Forbes shoved the cup of coffee in Zulu’s direction with a smile. She stared at her with her piercing green eyes and commanding presence. Zulu didn’t like coffee but she didn’t have much choice in the matter at that point. So she reached out and grabbed the cup from the plate. It wasn’t that hard even with her wrists cuffed together as they were cuffed in front of her instead of behind her back.
She brought the cup to her lips and took a sip.
“Drink it all. It will warm you up.”
Zulu obeyed and drank the rest of the cup. She was seemingly already on this woman’s bad side and she did not like it. It would so much more satisfying to let her think she’s getting what she wants and then pulling the rug out from under her. The look on her face when she realizes it might just be worth it.
Maybe.
Forbes went on to talk about what was going to happen the next day. But Zulu found that she couldn’t focus. Her vision was getting blurry and she began to feel woozy. She grabbed the edge of the table for support. Gripping it tightly she blinked rapidly; trying to clear her vision. It was no use so she tried to stand up; using the table for support. But her hand slipped and she lost her balance.
She fell to the floor as her vision blackened at the edges.
“Wha—Wh…”
“Sshhh,” Forbes whispered. “You’ll be okay. I promise. Just sleep. Just dream.”
Forbes bent down and began to brush Zulu’s hair with her palm. Zulu tried her best to fight the drugs that were in the coffee and to push the woman away from her. But it was too much all at once. Too much for the state she was in. She stared at Forbes’ face trying to get the will to continue fighting. It was no use.
“No… I. No…”
“I won’t let anything happen to you. Just sleep. Just dream.”
The last thing Zulu saw before she passed out, for the second time, was the table leg.
Characters: India, Delta, X-Ray, Uniform, Zulu, and Golf
Word Count: 2,274
Trigger Warning: Swearing
A/N: Here’s part five. I have nothing else to say really.
Parts: X, X, X, X
Summary: The gang heads to New York to track down a bank CEO suspected of running an underground gambling ring. But surprises come in all shapes and sizes. And the truth is always what you least expect it to be. Click that read more if you want.
XXXXX
X-Ray had, in fact, been nowhere near Uniform and Zulu. The plan was for him to keep an eye on things; sitting only a table away from them. But he couldn’t even do that at the moment. His thoughts and feelings were too much to handle already. And there was always the possibility that he had to do what he did best. Which was something he really didn’t feel up to. Being that close to Uniform at a time like this made everything even worse.
Once Zulu had sat down and they all got to talking X-Ray left.
I have to get out of here.
As he shoved his way out the door he looked back. But they didn’t notice.
He lied to himself saying that he didn’t care.
The fall night air was chilly and hit him like a brick wall when he stepped outside. He was glad that he chose to wear layers for once in his life. X-Ray shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket and walked down the sidewalk. With no destination in mind he walked around aimlessly eyes to the ground.
Every once in a while he would bump into some random civilian who would look at him like he was crazy. Or like they would kill him. He’d apologize quickly and walk on.
If they only knew, he thought to himself.
Sometimes he wished that his life was different.
This life was too much. The toll it took on his mind was something he could definitely live without. Most of what they did was horrific. All the lives they’ve ruined through the years. The things they’ve stolen. The lies they’ve spread. The governments they’ve toppled. The people they’ve killed. None of that was worth the small bits of happiness he rarely felt.
He could just leave.
It was completely possible.
H.E.R.A.C.L.E.S. would never find you, his mind told him. Do you think they’d really care to look?
But the opposite thoughts ran through his mind at the same time.
He had to do those things. What he was doing was right after all. The people they hunted down committed crimes, some unspeakable, and deserved to be punished. And besides, what chose did he have? An orphaned boy with a rap sheet longer than his arm didn’t have much choice in career paths.
And there were always the other facts;
They would find someone to take his place.
They would make him their next target.
They will make the team hunt you down and kill you. Every last one of them.
They had done the same thing to Alfa; the first agent of H.E.R.A.C.L.E.S. He escaped while on mission in North Korea or so the story went. And those in charge of the organization couldn’t let him live outside of their control. So they set his old team onto his trail. Those operatives did not stop until they found him. But they didn’t stop there either.
Leaving is not an option and you know it.
“I can dream can’t I?” he whispered to himself.
X-Ray thought about turning back.
The others needed him. They couldn’t do this without him. And besides they were not allowed. Regulation clearly stated that all able-bodied team members had to present for all missions they were needed for. The only reason for him not be on a mission was if he was in the infirmary.
But before he could make an actual decision a voice erupted through his comm.
X… my man! Where you?
Uniform was drunk; that much was clear. But he was never this drunk. He had never been drunk enough to be unable to speak clearly. The Raven always prided himself on being able to keep a clear head. Being able to be one step ahead of his target and keep them unawares of his true intentions. And on being able to handle his liquor.
But now he was barely stringing words together. And he didn’t use the fake names they decided on earlier.
Something else had to be going on.
Someone had ulterior motives that night and for once it wasn’t them.
“Are you still at the restaurant, sir?” X-Ray said; trying to keep up the cover just in case someone was listening in.
Nope, nope, nope.
He started to go back the way he came; trying to keep his head. But that was hard. Uniform was most likely drugged. His mind went straight to date rape drugs. One of which he was familiar with, since the operatives used them on a regular basis; Ketamine. Most commonly known by its street name; Special K. But it was also possible that Rohypnol, GHB, or Ecstasy were used to drug him.
X-Ray couldn’t tell much though just the sound of Un’s voice.
All he could do was ask questions and try to figure out where they were.
“Okay, is Zoe still with you?”
Shhhhh… She’s shleeping.
Slurred speech didn’t tell him much either. That was a symptom of far too many things; including being drunk. But Zulu had lost consciousness and passed out. That had narrowed things down a bit. The only problem was that he still had no idea where his friends were.
“Can you see okay? Can you describe where you are?”
Silence met his questions.
That was not good.
Diz.. Dizzzy. Can’t shee. Uniform said after a few minutes.
That was all X-Ray needed to know to confirm his suspicions. The two of them had to be drugged with Rohypnol. All of Uniform’s symptoms pointed to that drug. X-Ray started to quicken his pace to a run and started pushing people out of his way. He didn’t stop to apologize.
He had more pressing matters to deal with.
“You need to tell me something about where you are. Anything.”
It’sh dark. And cold. Can’t move.
The loss of movement also confirmed Rohnypnol. But the description gave him nothing more than he already had. He couldn’t work with dark and cold. That could be anywhere.
“Anything else?”
“Mr. Monroe? Mr. Monroe?!”
“UNIFORM?!”
He could feel eyes on him as he screamed. But he couldn't help it. The other side of the comm link was silent.
Shit.
X-Ray ran a hand over his face. His heart beat hard and fast and he could feel it through his chest. The only thing he could do was call the others. Tell them what was going on. And try to figure out where the hell they had been taken.
Someone had to have some idea.
XXXXX
India had just left the Prosperity Financial building and was in the process of hot-wiring a car in the lot. Turning the makeshift key, which was actually a small flathead screwdriver, once more the car roared to life. She smiled and pulled out of the parking space. Once she was on the road she started her way to the safe house. Turning the radio on she finally settled on a station when Delta’s voice rang through her ear.
X just got back to the car. The others are gone.
She swore under her breath. The scrawled notes on Forbes’ desk calendar aroused suspicions. Suspicions she told Delta about earlier. And now that they were proven India mentally scolded herself for doing nothing to prevent it.
What do we do, Indy?
“I don’t know, babe, you tell me. Fucking hell! I knew this was going to go to shit. I knew it!” she yelled; pulling at her hair.
The comms fell silent as she screamed in frustration.
X-Ray told her all that he knew once she calmed down. But it wasn’t much to go on. All they could go was start looking near the restaurant. Or back near Forbes’ apartment. India was closer to the apartment so she offered to search there and ordered the others to search where they were.
“You’re still in the alley across from Maya, right.”
We sure are, Delta said trying to remain as positive as possible.
“We can always count on you to keep things light, can’t we, babe?”
India didn’t give Delta the chance to respond before signing off.
She gripped the steering wheel tighter with one hand. With her free hand she turned the radio up louder. Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids and she tried to drown them with music and pain. But it didn’t work.
Taking a deep breath she screamed as loud as she could.
With that out of the way India tried to think of places Forbes could have taken her teammates. It was no use. All she could think about was how she let them down. It was her fault this had happened. She couldn't come up with a plan so they had to improvise one at last minute. Improv never lead to anything good.
What the hell am I going to tell Stevens?
What am I gonna say if they turn up dead?
Her mind was racing and she couldn’t think straight. It didn’t make any sense. Forbes had no prior arrest records for kidnapping or abduction. There wasn’t a single reason she would drug another person. And taking them against their will was something else entirely.
Why would she even take them? She’s a gambler. What does she need...
Then it hit her.
The gambling ring was fake. Everyone assumed that Jacqueline Forbes gambled because that’s what the signs pointed to. Photos of her going into seedy bars and talking to shady people. Countless security camera footage of her taking money from her multiple bank accounts. Rich friends with similar vices.
But people were only seeing what she wanted them to see.
There was a completely different side to the woman than the strong business woman. A side she definitely wanted to keep secret from everyone.
“X? Do you know if Forbes had any trauma in her past?”
She was an orphan for most of her life. Was arrested once for prostitution and charged with a misdemeanor. But she was adopted by Henry and Michelle Forbes at age fifteen. Why?
“Just a hunch.”
Where’s this hunch leading, sweetie?
“To Zulu and Uniform, hopefully, babe.”
XXXXX
“Indy, I think I found something.”
Lay it on me.
“Seems like Forbes has been corresponding with someone in code. There are tons of emails here that look like complete nonsense.”
You think you can crack it?
Golf’s face twisted in thought. He wasn’t so sure but he had to try.
“Maybe…”
If a maybe’s all you got then I’ll take it. India out.
He tapped his comm. off needing the silence to work properly. There was only so much pressure he could take. Anything coming in would add to that. And would be distractions he really didn’t need.
Golf clicked inside the search box and typed the email address that the coded messages where coming from and being sent to.
Once the return had filled the page with all the emails he scrolled to the bottom. Clicking open the very first email he started to read. For all intents and purposes it looked like a normal business related email. Nothing jumped out at him at first. But he knew there was a code. He just had to crack it.
Easier said than done.
He copied the text of the email and opened a word document. Pasting the text into the blank doc he went back to the email list. Opening one email after another he copied them all. After pasting a few more into the same doc as the first one he searched for the clue. Golf left out the greeting and the closing since there was nothing different there. His eyes scanned the first word of each line of text.
But that had not created anything that made sense.
After that he tried the second word of each line. Again that had created a nonsensical string of words. Pulling at the edge of his sweater sleeve Golf thought about what to try next. But thinking was difficult at the moment.
The comm. had been too silent for his liking.
Silence never meant anything good.
Not in his experiences.
He tried to focus on the words; on the code hidden within. Trying to find the clue that told him what he needed to look for. There weren’t any obvious things that pointed out the code. No words in the text were randomly capitalized. Stacking the messages on top of one another had proved to be useless.
Then it hit him. It had to be the last word of each sentence. It just had to be.
But before he could test the theory India’s voice flowed through his ear once again.
Un and Zulu were taken by Forbes.
“Wha—What?”
You heard me, India said.
He heard her loud and clear but that wasn’t the problem. He just couldn’t believe it. Uniform was so careful about his work nothing would slip by him. And Zulu always picked up little nuances in people’s tone of voice. She would’ve definitely figured out if something was up. Both of them would have.
It just made no sense.
“Do you know where they are?”
No. Not a single damn lead.
“Any ideas as to why?”
Yeah. Seems like gambling isn’t the only sin she dabbles in. That was another ruse.
Golf waited.
I think she’s a madam. And a trafficker.
The severity hit Golf so hard that he had nothing to say. He just sat with his mouth hanging open in shock.
But we need more proof. And a lead on a place. So, we really need any info you’ve got.
“I’ll get back to you when I know something. Golf out.”
