Agent 11

Chapter Four: Complications

Agent 11
"Lucy! Put away the flashlight! I won't be able to use it without getting caught anyway." I yelled, reaching to double check my necessities. Black hat to tuck hair into, hiking boots, dark shirt, my hoodie, dark leggings, small walkie talkie that would be of no use once I crossed the bridge, and the small, oh so important downloading device. "All packed and ready to go." I half-sang out to the others. Michel looked up from his argument with Sam about a comparison of two seemingly identical communication bracelets. He smiled. "You know, you shouldn't tempt fate like that. Ever heard of jinx's?" I rolled my eyes. "Well it's not like anyone is going to walk in here and give us a reason to cancel." Just then, as if a cue from some interdimensional television show, Blake walked in the preparation room, looking more crestfallen than a small child being told their favorite holiday was canceled. I tried to ignore Michels knowing smirk. "Shut up, Selvard." I mumbled. "I haven't said anything." Sometimes it really sucks to argue with a stubborn smart alec, even if you yourself were one. Blake approached me, and unleashed a torrent of words faster than I could comprehend. "Agent 11, I'm afraid the mission is canceled. I just found out that the boy supposed to be on trial escaped. We need to postpone the infiltration." I blinked, registering what he just said until it hit me. The important mission was being canceled. Absolutely not! "First of all, no. And second of all, no! I didn't come this far to give up! Draining their information could give us the edge. How can you turn that down?" He looked at me, clearly irritated. "I guarantee your safety. I will not risk my top agent for this! I will not risk my best friend for this!" By then, our voices had risen, and people were staring, but I was too upset to care. "Our lives are never safe. If I get captured, I'll do as I've been trained and escape. I appreciate you valuing me, but I can't live in a plastic bubble. I never have! Besides, I'm not just your friend , I'm your second in command too. And I have to say as your second in command, we need to do this. I'm going over to the base with the downloader, whether you like it or not and you can't stop me!" I knew I had crossed the line. No one ever talked back to Blake like this, and I had just yelled at him in front of countless people. I waited, looking down, for a reprimand, punishment, or something. It never came, and in its place, a badly controlled noise of quick breathing. I looked up curiously to see Blake holding in laughter. His sapphire eyes were sparkling."If you did get captured by Counterattack, you sure would have some blistering words for them all." I blinked, very confused. He smiled, and when he spoke, it was very gentle. "You're right. Allegiance is what comes first, not personal safety. Our lives are dangerous, and that's what makes them so worth living. As much as I'd like you to be safe, that isn't a part of our jobs. You understand that, and so should I. Good luck." What a short yet rousing speech. That's a description of my Blake: terrible writer, but a master of words all the same. "I can't enter through the door, nor in plain sight, so I'll go around the side." Blake nodded, and hopped on the motorcycle he had insisted on learning to ride. I held up a hand to stop him. "If everyone is looking for this person, that won't be the best idea. Someone could hear that. I'll walk." He sighed, and I remembered how he wanted to help me by offering me a ride, to be with me as long as possible. "11, you will be safe. Got it?" He said it with such trust and faith, like he knew I'd be fine. I hugged him, happy for the hundredth time that I joined Allegiance. "You know me, Blake. The best I can do is try." He looked worried, not taking his eyes off me as I hugged each person. "I know. Trouble usually finds you." Nodding, I bid goodbye to the rest of my friends, and set off for the point of no return.
* * * * * * *
At the Fluss River, the one that divided Allegiance from Counterattack territory, I was peering suspiciously at the Treaty Bridge. Half the wooden boards had been replaced. The Counterattack half. "If that isn't petty, then I don't know what is." I mumbled aloud. The bridge was due for fixing, but neither side wanted to get close to it. It was made before we were enemies, when Allegiance and Counterattack were just two coexisting cities next to each other, working together to protect the world. The bridge itself was the treaty no one wanted to admit to breaking. In fact, it was truly a mystery how we had turned against each other. In any case, I had to cross. A few beams were rotten and brittle looking, while others looked perfectly safe. I took a step, lightly setting my foot down. It creaked, but didn't break, so I continued walking. However, the next wooden board snapped, and I nearly tripped. Looking down at the fast rushing water of the Fluss, I mentally filed a complaint to Blake for later. It was actually a relief when I finally crossed over to the enemy side, and crept into further dangerous territory. The amount of trees felt alien to me, as Allegiance only had a few planted in parks. One thing I'll give Counterattack, they really have an amazing view from their base. Thousands of trees dotted the hillside, framed with a picturesque waterfall. Even in the dark, starlight shone down on this miniature paradise. But I kept my guard up at all times, worried that a single moment of bad luck could send me into a trap. My extremely pale skin looked like the white marble of Allegiance buildings in the moonlight, and I knew that despite my monochrome outfit, I missed an equally important factor. Honestly, I should have left the hat. My long brown hair would hide my face better than the wool cap could. As I could do nothing about it now, other than keep my face low, I continued on with each sense straining, because I didn't want to get caught by surprise. However, I did take off the dark hat and shove it into my emergency bag. Soon, however, I began to hear an out of place noise; the sound of sobbing. The noise was quiet, as if suppressed, but stood out to me from the other sounds of the night, which I had been hearing for quite a while. I slowly edged forward, masked in shadows. Trained agent as I was, I felt sorry for this person immediately. A girl in a battered Counterattack uniform leaned over one of the many natural ponds, crying her heart out as if grieving for the whole world, all of which had been her friend. Though she obviously came from the enemy, given her clothing, my heart ached for her, even though I was frantically looking around, scanning for any sign of a trap having to do with this person, I decided to walk up, trying not to startle her. "Are you okay?" She whirled around, stumbling backward, almost falling entirely into the water. Her face was glimmering with tear marks, but she wiped them away. Since her hands had just fallen into the pond, this action did more harm than good. Her eyes narrowed in a threatening way, but I could see by her shaking body this was an act meant to scare me off. I held up my hands in surrender. I felt pity for this girl, and didn't mean any harm. She scanned me, to make sure I don't have any weapons. Her pale green eyes paused on the dagger I kept strapped to my left arm, and I quickly took it off and set it down. She relaxed slightly, and turned her back long enough to dry her face and arms. I stayed completely still the entire time, because something inside told me that I didn't wish this girl harm. She looked back, and saw I hadn't moved a muscle. Once she deemed me safe, this mystery girl broke down in front of me. I walked over slowly, and she allowed me to approach. I put a careful arm around her shoulder, smiling supportively. How quickly I became protective of this girl, as she reminded me of a little sister one would have. It was my nature to be sympathetic, and no amount of tactics training could help that. Eventually she told me the problem. "I feel like an absolutely awful person. I saved my friend from dying for a crime he didn't commit, but the one who helped me got left behind. If anyone saw her helping me, she'd be-" The girl cut herself off by collapsing back into sobs again, this time not bothering to be quiet. I comforted her the best I could without overwhelming her, and after a while she calmed down enough to give me a shaky smile. "I'm Ashley Parks. Thank you for being here for me." I smiled, and studied her features. In this light, I could tell she has light brown hair, almost cinnamon, and I could see those large green eyes in better clarity. It's incredible, the amount of pain she'd have to be carrying, to confide in a possibly dangerous stranger like me. I decided to take her back with me once I completed the mission, regardless of if Ash once was Counterattack or not. "What's your name?" I mentally debated whether or not I should answer her honestly. It was obvious that she wouldn't turn me in. As of right now, I knew she was fully against the organization and everything it stood for. Something felt off however, as my agent training reactivated to the sudden realization that we weren't alone. A twig cracked behind me, and I slammed whoever it is against a nearby tree with a move Lucy taught me for self defense. Well, Lucy's way involved the other arm delivering an elbow blow to the stomachs and breaking a leg, but I watered it down. It was a regular looking boy with messy reddish hair and sharp brown eyes, but I had a feeling from how he didn't flinch that he was like me. He was in a torn, dirty olive hoodie that hadn't been washed in a while. I looked at him, but what I saw in his eyes confirmed what I already knew. I saw no fear, just absolute determination. And there was something in the back of my head, a tingling feeling. This person was familiar somehow, but frustratingly enough, I couldn't place when I had seen this boy before. Perhaps I'd seen him on one of my missions? I decided then and there that I didn't want this boy as my enemy, strong as I may be. However, soon I remembered who I was, and reinforced my grip. Ash snapped out of her shock of seeing me go from nice to battle status in a second, and ran over. She tugged my arms away with all her strength, and I reluctantly let her, looking over and asking for an answer. "Stop! This is Ryan. He's the friend I was talking about!" Slightly embarrassed, I backed away. He blinked, and looked distrustingly at me, which I had to accept, seeing as I had just attacked him. She smiled back at him, a sure sign of trust.
"Ash, your eyes are red. Were you crying? And who is this? Did she hurt-"
"No Ryan, I was crying before she got here. I was feeling guilty for leaving Jen."
By the sound of it, these two have been through a lot together. The way they talk to each other was so familiar, so constant. Whatever past they have, whatever they've been through, it's made them close. Ryan seemed to have accepted me as a decent human being, and addressed me. "So." I raised an eyebrow, and replied in a mimicking tone. "How very eloquent." Ryan blinked, confused by my sudden hostility. He continued warily. "I can tell you're not from here. If you were, you would have recognized us, and brought us back. Are you...an Allegiance ally?" Ryan had good deductive skills, and if the situation was different, I would maybe want to recruit them. As for my identity, well, if I'm really as famous as I've been led to believe, these fellows were in for quite a shock. "You don't recognize me? I guess Counterattack still doesn't have the skills to hack into our higher-ups identity system. Then I suppose you'll find out if you come with me." I started walking away, until Ryan called to me as loudly as he dared. "Hold it." He walked over to me, Ash trailing behind. "I'm not going anywhere with you at all. I don't even know who you are." I guess it was time to tell them, if only to save these two. With a sigh, I cued the invisible epic background music, deciding to channel my inner Blake dramatics. "Well, I happen to be Agent 11, and if you want to survive, you'll come with me." New respect flared in their eyes as it dawned on them what I was saying, along with surprise, and a bit of fear. But Ryan's also held disbelief. I know I didn't look like much, but that was just until you saw me fight an enemy, or even worse, fight Lucy. Not many people can claim to have done that and survived. After revealing my identity, Ryan and Ash followed me obediently, whispering to one another like I couldn't hear them. Since my ears were unnaturally sensitive, I could. "Ryan, we left Jen. Don't you feel guilty?" "I know, but no one saw her give you those throwing knives. And remember, you did save me, with no training in knife throwing, That's less of a reason to feel bad about yourself." Ash was silent for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was different, quieter. "Do you trust Agent 11? Honestly, I'm afraid. I've heard stories of her back in Counterattack. She's the second in command of the base near ours." Hmph. A little trust please. I could have killed them twenty times by now. I wouldn't, of course, seeing as both of them were weak, scared, and not trying to attack me. Still, I suppose I would be doubtful if I was in their place. Thankfully, before Ryan could answer, I saw where we were and called back to them softly. "Don't be. We're almost there." We had arrived at the Counterattack headquarters, where I would place the downloader. I turned to Ryan and Ash, to size them up. Unarmed, aside from these so called knives. Ryan looked weak and thin, as if he hadn't eaten in a while. Neither was in any sort of condition to do anything stealthy. "Well, I'm going to have to go in alone. Stay here." Ryan glared at me with an anger so sharp, I almost felt a little afraid of the battered escapist. "So we just stand by? That's okay with everyone? You think you can just show up, out of nowhere, claim to be some great Agent, and expect us to follow your every whim?" My temper glowed red-hot at his tone, and more importantly, his volume, but he was somewhat correct. I needed to prove who I was, to win their respect. I whispered to Ryan to hush, or were all as good as dead. Then I paused, thinking over the words that had made me feel so angry. "Ryan, what did you just say?" He blinked, surprised by my question. He thought for a moment, then visibly looked down. I smirked confidently. "Well, thank you for complimenting me. I'll try to live up to the reputation Counterattack has produced." Then, I decided on a plan. Ash would distract the guards with a noise, leaving an empty spot for me to climb into the vents, and crawl over to Counterattacks tech room. Ryan would follow me and pose as the lookout. He looked up in disbelief, all flusteredness forgotten.
"Excuse me, why do I have to be the lookout? I want to help, and Ash would be safer with you anyway."
"First of all, you are excused, and second, I happen to know what I'm doing. Not to mention, Ash might just be more fit to defend herself than you are. When was the last time you had a decent meal?You've been disrupting my plan, but I haven't knocked you out and left you for a guard to find. Trust me, I've been tempted."
That reply came out as more harsh than I meant. I've been spending too much time getting insulted by Lucy. Ryan glared, but ruefully quieted down, while Ash hid a giggle, because she had a feeling that I didn't really mean it. To appease him, I switched Ash to the lookout, and Ryan as the distraction. After Ryan finally agreed, Ash and I started creeping around the halls. After a while, we reached the vents entryway. I was halfway in, when Ash tensed up. "Someone's coming." I backed out of vents, and started frantically shoving my companion over to them. Then I heard a cold, cruel voice, grating up my spine. "So, the great Agent 11 has decided to drop by. Oh, and you've even brought our escapees. I'd bet that the other one is already in those vents. Thank you very much." Captain Harlof. This Counterattack unit's leader, though he's less than half the person Blake is. I've dealt with him before, but with Ash here, I doubted I could protect both of us. I assessed the situation. Harlof seemed unarmed and at ease, but flanked by two guards who looked to be just the opposite. Fantastic. With my two favorite tactics, Fight or Flight out of the question, I had to go with my last resort: Trickery. Oddly enough, that seemed to be the one I was forced to use most often. "Yes, in fact, he's on his way to the tech room. Oh, and it just so happens that he's carrying a certain device. One that can download vital information." When I looked up at Harlof again, his face was a look of worry as he dispatched his bodyguards to the tech room. Then he smirked, thinking that he'd won. I had gotten his guards away from him, and somewhat evened the playing field.