Number 06 │ A Leverage Fanfiction

The Inside Job | Part 2

[Office]

"Oh, Dr. Hannity, you've been a bad girl."

Hardison's eyes skimmed the numbers, a whistle escaping his lips.

"Nate, Hannity burned through $60 million last year and didn't make Wakefield a dime. Some kind of... super wheat? That nobody wants? Man, she should be on the front lines begging to keep her job. I swear, I'd fire her."

[Roof]

Nate pressed his fingers to his earpiece, pacing along the rooftop.

"Hannity is our inside man." His voice was sharp now, a plan forming.

He turned slightly.

"Sophie, let everybody go—except Hannity. And I want her angry. Steamed."

[Conference Room]

The room had cleared out. Only two remained—Sophie, poised and calm on one side of the table, and Dr. Anne Hannity, arms crossed, a frown on her face, on the other.

"Shall we, Dr. Hannity?" Sophie flicked open a folder, examining it's empty content with mild disappointment. "Oh dear, it's a bit thin isn't it?"she asked, letting the paper flutter onto the table.

Hannity arched a brow. "PhD in agronomy from Stanford. MBA from Harvard."

Sophie hummed. She tapped a manicured nail against the folder.

"Graduated in the middle of your class in both. Published just... here and there."

Hannity's lips thinned. Now, that struck a nerve. "I'm vice president of a Fortune 500 company. Head of research."

"I know." Sophie tilted her head, smiling. "It's surprising, isn't it? With such... weak credentials."

Hannity's expression darkened. "I make one call, and you are finished, Miss Peal."

Sophie didn't even blink.

"Let's both make calls." She leaned in, her voice silk and steel. "You whine to your CEO about my bad manners, and I'll remind the board that your division has spent $60 million developing—" She flipped a page in the folder, pausing for effect. "What was it? Ah. Wheat."

Hannity's voice grew colder. "Wheat?"

Sophie smirked. "Yes, wheat. A bit too much pride in your little 'wheat,' don't you think?"

Hannity snapped back, "Okay. You're an accountant, and you're out of your depth."

Sophie's lips parted in amusement. "A bit full of ourselves, aren't we?"

Hannity exhaled sharply, stepping to a monitor. With a few clicks, data flooded the screen.

"You want to know what I've spent the last two years working on?"

Sophie crossed her arms. "Let's hear it, then."

Hannity gestured toward the display. "Five companies—five—control all the world's agriculture. Trillions of dollars. And they do it through wheat. The world's entire food supply is founded on wheat."

Sophie's brow furrowed. "I didn't know that."

"Of course you didn't."

The screen shifted, displaying a new set of images.

"Do you know what this is?" Hannity asked. "Of course you don't."

Sophie examined the data, but before she could process it, Hannity continued.

"This is a blight called UG99. A variant of the black stem fungus native to Russia. Modern wheat has no immunity to it."

Sophie's fingers tightened slightly on the table. "So what happens if UG99 reaches America?"