Flashbang

Chapter 1

He leaned heavily against the railings, the turquoise paint peeling off as a cigarette hung loosely from his lips. His eyes wandered idly across the street as his mind whirred in the background. People began to hurry into the nearest shelter as the rain worsened, the pit-patter against the corrugated iron entrance to his building block echoed in the night. His boss wanted to see him with the earliest of conveniences and he knew the reason why.

A file had landed itself across his desk twenty hours ago, six soldiers had been declared missing and he would be going into work to find out what else had been uncovered about their situation.

Smoke slowly whirled around him as he took the cigarette out of his mouth, closing his eyes and allowing himself to get lost in the ambience. The cigarette was finished, stamped out on the ground and he retired inside.

But, as time would have it, he was startled out of bed. His phone continued to sound the alarm, before a heavy hand clamped around the screen as he squinted into the light and switched his alarm off, dropping it onto the bed to get dressed for the day.

It was a bitter cold February morning as he stepped out of his home to begin the short journey down to Vauxhall, wind whipping around him. People bustled around on the pavement as roadworks inevitably halted the traffic, which in turned caused a series of loud horns from annoyed drivers. He watched the world through darkened lenses. He ignored most of the crowd as he turned into the safety of MI6, through the doors, guarded by two policemen armed with MP-5 sub-machine guns.

They both nodded, checking over his credentials before allowing him safe passage.

His footsteps echoed in the hallway as he walked over the recently cleaned marble floor. Having arrived early, he had a sudden epiphany into a solution but he needed to be sure. His boss had taught him one thing, to be sure. They could not afford any such mistakes to happen on an already delicate situation, in that they were placed on the back foot in receiving such information.

His first stop was the IT department. He needed to know a face and a name of someone who's name only had come up in passing, a phantom who had interfered in a large scale MI6 operation.

"Morning, Tom. Didn't expect to see you down here." He was greeted by a slender female, who arched a brow at his sudden arrival.

"I know," Tom replied. "Not a social call, Kim, unfortunately. I need to know about Beirut, 2013."

Kim paused before turning towards her monitor, hands poised over her keyboard, "What is it you need to know?"

"Just about any such activity that occurred concurrently to our operation there. New faces, uh, well, anything." Tomas informed, placing a hand on the back of her chair.

"Alright, give me a moment."

The tape rolled, the camera footage that they had managed to gain was grainy. Tom's eyes narrowed as a figure ran past, holding what looked to be a weapon. He knew that there was a slim chance that this was the man he was after.

"Stop," Tom leaned over Kim's shoulder, causing her to cast an annoyed upwards glance but being her superior, she did as she was told. "Rewind the tape. Stop. Can you zoom in on...that man there."

He had pointed out the lone figure, as Kim began the process of focusing in. It took several minutes before a clearer image was seen, enough so that he would be able to get a facial match. An alert sounded, directing them to a file number. Tom's brow knitted before patting Kim on the shoulder, who then pulled up the file, "Would you please send this up to Eric? I have a meeting with him in a couple of minutes and can't miss it."

"Sure, no problem." Kim replied.

He nodded, turning and exiting the room, closing the door quietly behind him as he proceeded up the stairwell towards his boss's office. People walked past him, giving him a nod or simply ignoring him to continue in their own world.

Eric Jameson.

He rapped his knuckles on the door three times before the door handle turned and an older male had greeted him with a grim smile, "Come on in."

Tomas closed the door behind him as Eric settled himself back behind the desk, one leg placed over the other. He paused in mid-step as he noticed that he was not going to be the only one in the room. Eric looked up from his computer, "Take a seat Tomas. I promise you, she's not going to bite. We have a lot to discuss."

He took a seat, eyeing the woman who sat next to him. She was poised, back straight and her hair pulled into a tight bun.

"Tom, meet Maria. Maria, Tom." Eric said, watching as they shook hands in greeting before clearing his throat. "As we both know, six soldiers have disappeared in Honduras, the same six that were with us during Beirut. They were supposed to have checked in several days ago and when they had not checked back into their hotel, suspicions grew. Maria has been a great help, having been the soldier's point of contact and the overseer to the op."

"So, we don't know who's taken them?" Tom asked.

"No," Eric brushed a speck of dirt off his lapel before his eyes fell back on Tom. "Nor do we know the intentions of why they were taken. Perhaps their covers had been blown or it could well be a multitude of reasons."

"We had considered sending a team of special forces members, but seeing as they had been targeting our own. We can't risk losing even more." Maria added. "We have been going over civilian assets or those who have recently left the service, but none seem to be up to par in what we are looking for."

Tom nodded, allowing the information to sink in before opening his mouth, "I had a file sent to you, Eric. Might shed some light on the assets."

Maria and Eric exchanged a glance. He pulled open the file, leaning back into his chair and sighing, "Tom, I appreciate the effort, but the man's been labeled as 'killed in action' four years ago. Unless you've found a way to bring the dead back to life, I doubt we'd be able to use him."

"But, he was there in Beirut. The system recognised him," Tom replied. "He's alive, Eric. Perhaps, even better that most of the world believe he's dead. Whoever has taken the soldiers won't expect a dead man knocking at their door."

The room fell silent. Eric's gaze slowly moved over to Maria, who nodded and saw herself out of the office. His eyes watched until the door had been fully shut behind them before switching suddenly to Tom. Eric leaned back in his chair, left hand placed on the keyboard.

"Whether or not the man is alive, you knew what happened. We went to stop a bomb maker, and instead, we got collateral damage," Eric said. "Maybe it's because of this man--"

Tom sighed heavily, "He messed it up for us, but he's got the skillset that we need at this very moment! Six soldiers are missing, Maria and you don't seem sold on getting the SF involved, so what are we left with?" He took a breath, leaning forward and placing his hands on his boss's desk as he locked eyes, challenging him.

Both of them knew the stakes.

Eric was the first to break eye contact. His lips had been pressed into a thin line as he glanced over the file once more, "If you manage to track Mr. Lansbury down, he's your responsibility. But, bring him in so I can debrief him on the situation. That is all."

Tomas nodded, hauling himself out of his seat and out of the office with a curt nod sent Maria's way as he walked back down the corridor, a soft grin itching at the corner of his mouth.