OPERATOR25

This is the A Team?

**Disclaimer: some themes include violence and suicidal thoughts**

Chapter 2

It was 0855 on the fishing docks and Vincent stood waiting with another man. He checked his watch and looked at Vinny.

"Are you sure he's coming," the man asked skeptically. A hint of a French accent shrouded his words. Vinny looked at the man who had a very short haircut and for all intents and purposes, looked like a brick. He would not be described as remarkable, except that maybe he looked like he could lift heavy.

"He'll show. If he's anything like he was back in the day, he won't be able to resist. THAT, I am sure of," He smirked. Four more minutes go by and around an old shipping container comes Royce, showered, clean shaven and with a fresh haircut. Vinny snorted and pulled him into a hug.

"Whatever happened to the ten minutes prior? Get a manicure too?" Royce squinted.

"Not enough time," he turns to the Frenchman, "Who're you." The man made a face. Not a very polite one this one is. Vinny must have been lying when he talked about Bennett and his many grand adventures. All he saw was a tumultuously grumpy man.

"Forgive him, he's old and probably hasn't had his morning coffee. Bennett, this is Lutin. He mutated 30 years ago. We found him in the French mines after he resigned from the French special ops group. He specializes in counterfeiting, mapping, and scouting. Think of our forward observers, but you know, French." Lutin shot him a sharp look, but Vinny shrugged it off. He directed the men over to a steamboat. It wasn't anything special, but it looked like it would get the job done.

There was a lot of fog on the water, it was hard to see where they were going. Royce didn't like to have his bearings unclear and he for sure didn't like the ocean. It was too unpredictable, especially now that there wasn't any radar. Maybe he should take a nap to pass the time. That was something he learned in the Army, nap when you can because you never know the next time you are going to get to sleep. Royce closed his eyes and attempted to catch a few.

***

The boat groaned to a halt as it was brought into the pier. Royce opened his eyes and looked around. How long was he out, where was he, did he still have all his kidneys? Looking out on the docks he sees a lot of colorful buildings...and sand.

"You think a hundred and eighty-five years is enough time for people to forget the last time we were here?" Vinny chided.

"Why are we in Morocco," Royce exhaled. They got off the boat and began walking through the bustling city, weaving through various alleys. Politely declining people trying to sell him things, Royce tries to steady his breathing. This place was way too crowded for his anxiety and was about to get spicy at whatever might come out of Vinny or the Frenchman's mouth. This place has not changed much, which made it easier to navigate but he wondered if there was still a lingering presence of the last time his squad was there to train the local military. Those were more exciting times for a less salty soldier.

"Don't worry, we don't have any grandkids here. At least I don't think we do...don't worry we won't be above ground for much longer." Vinny laughs nervously. They make their way down a staircase and Vinny knocks on a door where a shrouded man opens a small window. Vinny mumbles something to the man and the door opens begrudgingly. You'd think for a super-secret group they would get a quieter door he thought. They make their way down a tunnel lit by small lanterns. It was much cooler here and Royce relaxed in the fact that the noise of the street faded from his ears. Noisy, crowed places was near the top of his ever-growing list of things that just pissed him off relentlessly.

They wandered deeper into the tunnel for what seemed like an hour. Thank God, he thought, that his knees were only slightly messed up from his Airborne days. His body didn't get worse after the fallout (minus the scars) but his existing conditions definitely didn't get better. The back pain alone made him stay in bed a few more extra minutes in the mornings. They made one more turn and the tunnel widened into a large room with the singular exit being the entrance, lit by various mirrors reflecting light from the surface. The extent to human ingenuity was astounding to him as a prior tech consumer.