The League

Chapter 5 - Snakes

Every well-planned mission started with an info session. Phoenix was still conflicted about his role in the exchange team and didn't want to be told anything he didn't need to know, but Kate insisted that he should have some background. Trying to convince her otherwise was like talking to a brick wall, so he gave in and listened.

The Snakes were first established as a pair by the Black Snake, the current leader, and the Azure Snake, the current second-in-command. The supposed siblings, Crimson and Violet, joined the team three years ago. Amara had been around for about a year. Their real names were unknown, and while Amara was a confirmed superhuman, the statuses of the other four were undetermined. They were good at keeping low profiles.

The League's intelligence unit had built up some other information in the past years from direct interactions and secondhand knowledge of the Snakes' activities, but all Phoenix needed to know for tonight were their names, their appearances, and one fact: they were not to be underestimated.

The exchange team consisted of him and three others. Kate Green, thirty-two, was the leader, and she explained that she was a private League superhero, meaning she was an agent usually assigned to missions where her superpowers could come in handy. Along with strength and durability, she had super speed, too, but she didn't count it as a 'real' power of hers. It was exhausting and hard to navigate when running that fast, so she only used it when absolutely necessary.

Tara Mann, twenty-seven, was another private superhero, gifted with the power of flight. Her job was to watch the exchange from above and intervene if anything went wrong. Martin Stevenson, forty-two, was the only non-superhuman of the group, but he was ex-CIA and a current League agent, so he was just as qualified to be here as the rest of them.

The exchange was set for one in the morning at a shipping yard. They took a bulletproof black van with Kate driving and Martin in the passenger seat. The back of the van was empty space with two benches along each side, and Phoenix and Tara sat across from each other by the rear doors. Amara was on the other end of Phoenix's bench, chained close to the dividing window so Martin could keep an eye on her from the front. She sat perfectly still, her cuffed hands folded in her lap.

Phoenix couldn't figure out if she was happy to be going back to her team. She didn't look like she was, but she didn't look too thrilled to be here with them, either. Maybe it was simply a matter of who she disliked least.

If everything worked out, they would return her to the Snakes, the League would get its flash drive, and there would be no fighting. But despite the simplicity of the plan, everyone was eerily silent, like they were on a suicide mission. Phoenix didn't know if the quiet was a sign of calmness or worry, or a bit of both.

Tara cleared her throat. "Do you have a codename?"

Phoenix shook his head, a little relieved. Kate had told him that Tara was talkative and easy-going, and he was glad for it. Her bright smile made it seem like he was hanging out with a friend and not in the back of a van with a criminal.

"Do you have one?" he asked.

"Not really." She shrugged. "They call me Tara, or Agent Mann." She paused, and then she suddenly turned her head. "Hey, Amara?"

Amara side-eyed her, surprised by her nerve to talk to her. "What?"

The tension was suffocatingly thick. Phoenix held his breath and hoped Tara knew what she was doing.

"Why don't you have a color codename?" Tara asked. "All the other Snakes have one."

Amara closed her eyes and leaned the back of her head against the van wall, looking like she wasn't going to answer. Then she murmured, "You don't know what I am."