A Shot in the Dark

...and gone acquaintances

The place looked like a small office. On the far right was a desk with a couple of computers and devices, not so different from the ones used when Eve worked for the MI6. It really looked like the small room disguised as a security service base when Carolyn asked her to join her after she was fired from MI5.
Having lowered their guns, the all were now seated and staring at each other. Villanelle was the first one to finally break the silence. "So what?"
"I want what you two want" Vlad simply said.
"And what would that be?" the blonde spatted back, becoming more and more annoyed.
"Carolyn"
Villanelle raised an eyebrow. Things were becoming interesting, at least.
"After Rome, I fired Carolyn, accused her of treason and when he wanted back to MI6 she needed to prove that she was fit to the role"
"So she tried to kill me"
"That would have been an easy way back, I have to admit, but things are way more intricate than that" Vlad admitted. "Once she was back, she managed to turn the whole department against me, and here I am" he crossed his arms. Apparently Carolyn was able to come at the top of something. If it wasn't the Twelve, MI6 could do.
"So what?" Eve spoke, after pondering. "You want us to help you, when you are very much in it with Carolyn?"
"Let's just blow his head off" Villanelle stood up and pointed the gun at him.
"Wait" he said, raising his arms. "I'm pretty sure we can help each other. I know a lot of ways, and I still have a group of trusted people that are willing to help"
"And what will we get after all this shit is over?" the Russian woman said, still holding the gun. She was getting frustrated. She hated them all. Everyone that crossed her path only just used her for the infinite skills she came to learn during the years. All that always for other people. When was it going to be about her alone? When was that going to end?
"Like I said, I have my ways. I can assure you both will be forgotten, you will not exist after this. You will have a clear way out. You will start anew. Say a place, it will be yours" he seemed to know how to work with words.
The two women were in a dead end, they couldn't risk anymore. They were alone, and knowing that somehow they had a kind of backup could be helpful.
"How do I know you aren't playing us?" Eve asked. She got a point, after all.
"Come" Vlad invited them to the computers. "Look at that"
On the computers were what looked like CCTV videos, but it wasn't normal security footage. Villanelle could actually recognize it. It was the same software she came across in Rome, when she was helping MI6. "That's Aaron Peel's cyber-weapon"
"Wait. How?" Eve was shocked, but amused at the same time.
"When Carolyn was in Rome, and admitted her double-cross, I had my guys collect all the things in Peel's residence. She didn't know. She thought the Twelve took it, when she sold Villanelle out to them. Think about it, if I wanted Villanelle, I would have gotten her in Rome, when you two had an apparent easy escape"
Things were starting to fall into place. It was Carolyn, Vlad wanted Carolyn. And he had been working on that for long.
"I wanted to see how far she would push herself to get back to MI6. I knew that sooner or later she would find her way. She let you deal with the Twelve and that would have been enough for me. But she needed to prove herself something, I guess. She wants to be in control. Something she lost since her son died"
"So, this thing" Eve started, pointing at the computers. "This could just help us find her, right?"
"That's the little obstacle" he said.
"She disappeared" Villanelle uttered. "Puff" and left the little cache, leaving behind a confused Eve and a hopeful Vlad.

"Where are you going?" Eve followed soon after. "I'm starting to become tired of having to ask you this question every time"
"We have to-" the other woman started to say, but .
"Before you leave" Vlad said, as he approached the two. "Here's two untraceable phones. We will keep contacts through these. You stay focused, I will get back at you soon. Oh, and when you get home, turn the news channel on" and he walked off, without saying more.
Eve looked at Villanelle, waiting for her to finish the sentence she started before the man interrupted her. "We have to get ready"

Back at the apartment, they did as Vlad asked. The tv was on and after the weather forecaster was done, the news started.
"The nights of terror in London seem to not have ended, for a woman was found dead in her house, in a very tranquil neighborhood not so far from here..."
"What the hell? Again?" Eve murmured. Villanelle just stared at the tv, when the victim's picture showed up. They both looked at each other. Eve's face was in utter shock; Villanelle, on the other hand, wasn't so surprised.
The words of the journalist sounded far and far away, as the picture was the only thing that by then caught their full attention. It was someone that Eve knew, not very well like her brother, but she did know her: Geraldine Stowton.