The Actors Guild

The First Mission (Pt. 3)

(Eli's POV)

    "What?" I hissed into my headset.  "What do you mean, 'Scarlet's been poisoned'?"

    Leah sighed, exasperated, but I honestly didn't care.  "Someone slipped a little chloroform into her drink." She explained slowly, as though she was talking to a kindergartener.  She sighed again, tiredly.  "You know what?" she continued, "Why don't you just ask Asha.  She was right there the entire time.  Just ask her.  And, I really gotta go now.  Bye."  I heard the blip that signified Leah turning off her headset.

    My head was reeling.  I definitely had not known that my own partner had been there when Scarlet had fainted.  Why hadn't she told me?!

    I speed-walked over to the other side of the bar, where Asha was casually wiping up some sticky drink residue, as though she hadn't just totally lied to my face.  Okay, well, not actually lied, but omitted, so I totally still had a right to be mad at her.

    I figured I should just rip it off, like a bandaid.  Yeah, like a bandaid.  "Why didn't you tell me that you were there when Scarlet fainted?"

    Asha looked up at me, a painted-on calm expression, and smiled tightly.  "I figured you'd heard.  Besides, I guess I just didn't want to talk about it."  She turned back to her wiping.

    Something about that sounded off.  "That's bullshit."  Asha turned around, her dark eyes staring darkly at me, daring me to keep going.

    She quirked an eyebrow.  "Why do you say that?"

    "It's a feeling."

    "Oh, so you have no reason.  Mm-kay."

    Her flippancy to the situation infuriated me.  She was supposed to trust me with that kind of stuff.  That's what partners were for.  If she didn't tell me about this, what other stuff might she not tell me in the future?  

    "Why are you dodging my questions?"

    "That seems a little extreme.  I answered your ONE question."  She turned again, but after a few seconds, she spun around to face me completely.

    "Fine.  You wanna know the truth?" I nodded quickly before she changed her mind and closed off again.  "Scarlet was pissed at Will because he implied that she wanted to be a hero and didn't value the safety of the team, so she came to me asking me for some help bugging Gottbert Keller.  You didn't know about this because you were on a bathroom break.  Anyway, I think someone found out about this plan of ours, so they slipped some chloroform into Scarlet's drink.  But," she smiled mischievously, "I still managed to bug Keller."

    I blinked rapidly, trying my best to quickly absorb all of this new information.  "Wow."  I say slowly, after a few seconds. 

    "Yeah." Asha ducked her head and stared at the ground, seemingly entranced by the checkered pattern of the tile.

    I suddenly had an idea.  "Well, do you want to bug a guy together?"

(Yvonne's POV)

    Asha had filled Noah and I in on the details Scarlet's poisoning and how she and Eli were gonna take care of Karl Haas.  That just left Christoph Fuchs.  The ringmaster.  The head honcho.  And I, Yvonne Claire DeMarcus, was going to be the one who took him down.  Well, I would be the one to bug him, but still!

    Noah and I had given each other a challenge.  We would work on our own to get Fuchs, and whoever bugged him first would get permanent bragging rights.  Yes, I know that 'permanent bragging rights' sounds more than a little childish, but, work with me here.  I needed to pop this smug, overconfident balloon of his.  And, besides, our challenge never specified whether or not you can sabotage the other. *Cue evil laugh*