𝑩𝑨𝑫 𝑨𝑷𝑷𝑳𝑬 | ˢ.ᵗᵒᵈᵒʳᵒᵏⁱ ˣ ᵒᵖ!ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ ˣ ᵏ.ᵇᵃᵏᵘᵍᵒ

𝐂 𝐇 𝐀 𝐏 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐄 𝐈 𝐆 𝐇 𝐓 𝐄 𝐄 𝐍

Chapter Eighteen: The price of a life

MIRKO STRAIGHTENED HER SUIT JACKET, wiping herself down from any dust as a mechanism to calm her nerves. She wasn't usually this nervous, but this was a case she'd never seen before.

Both her and Hawks had inaugurated the start of your career — and although making you a star was...beneficial, the sudden spike in fame accompanied by the unsolved case of the assassin was somewhat overwhelming. And not to mention Endeavours' criticism. She'd like to say that he had no idea what he was talking about, but unfortunately she had trust in his abilities. Endeavour was no novice — he had plenty of experience with smaller cases similar to this one — however, they both knew the trouble it would cause of he had been the one to take it on. Nevertheless, she had a decent overview of his past, including his marriage. His tight reigns over his children would definitely do no good of you were in the picture; he practically ruled his youngest son with an iron fist — so no. You'd not be allowed near him for the foreseeable future.

"Damn press conference is the last fucking thing I need this morning." Mirko muttered, storming down towards the hall where the conference would be held. Despite standing a mere 5'2, her current seriousness gave her a presence so incredibly powerful that it felt like she towered over the two secretaries who scuttled along behind her. "Fuck my life..." She muttered, snatching a coffee from a random passerbyer as she set her eyes on Hawks: her colleague and probable sole cause of this mess.

"Kiego." She greeted with a signature grin, noticing the women who were setting up a mic on his jacket; inevitably already under his man-whore spell.

"Sup." He greeted, throwing out a peace sign as he took a long slurp of his milkshake. She quickly shook her head, her face cringing in disgust as she mentally prepared herself for the frustration she was about to feel.

"So." She lowered her voice, shooing her sectaries away. "I hope you've got everything under control. You know that I've been breaking my back trying to stop any of those articles coming through from the States."

"Calm yourself down sweetheart!" He chuckled lazily, stuffing a hand into his trouser pocket. "I've got it all sorted out." Mirko grunted, a prominent frown appearing on her face as she waited to see what the bird-man had conjured up.

"Well..?" She interrogated, her facade never faltering.

"What?"

"I'm waiting for you to show me the plan that you made?" A bubbling anger began to brew in her stomach as she was met with a loud silence. "You've got to be fucking joking me. Kiego!"

"I told you, it's under control-"

"THEN WHERE IS IT?! You damn idiot, we go live in 6 minutes, and we don't have a GOD FORSAKEN CLUE, WHAT WERE GOING TO SAY?!"

Hawks shrugged in response. "You know I hate writing."

Oh lord — she could have slapped him. She could have hit him across the face in that moment with no remorse if it weren't for the last shred of dignity that was keeping her intact.

"T-minus four minutes!" A crew member announced over comms.

"You better sort your shit out before we go out there, or we're gonna be eaten alive, and Y/N will be coming down with us. We can't have a catastrophe like that. You know the delicacy of this operation." She scolded.

"There's a reason I am where I am Rumi." She bit her tongue as the sudden coldness of his voice. "You know not to underestimate me. Like I said, I've got everything sorted out, so hop off my dick for once and calm the fuck down." He let out a long, hard sigh as the two heroes were quick to recompose themselves.