Missiles & Magic

Swan's mind suddenly focused, with a clear relief. As if the information Queen Witch has been looking for all along didn't actually matter.

There is something else you're protecting, isn't there, Director?

Conscious thoughts swerved, projecting confusion of buildings and trinkets.

Oh, you are not going to think about it? This... artifact?

Of course, the word brought a glimpse of the very thing she was trying to keep hidden.

A small, flat, bejeweled... but not clear enough to identify.

A spike of panic as the thought was swept away.

Oh, no no. We're going to talk about that!

Swan smiled.

"Lioness," Tiger's voice sounded with the quiet intensity of command. "This is not your job right now, unless it has something to do with..."

"He's only here because I didn't do my job thoroughly enough last time," she gritted back, but then she closed her eyes and dropped the emotional barrage.

"If you as much as think about hurting anyone ever again," she said to the broken man at her feet. "I will find you, and by God I will finish my job. Understand?"

He nodded. "Please, don't..."

She turned away in disgust, speaking to her partners.

"Where to now?"

And then the sock landed behind a filing cabinet in a chilly room filled with stench of blood and death. A shiver ran through their fibers and they began creeping towards the source of energy pulsing in front of them. A small compact mirror shone with magic. The sock could not resist peering into it to see if they changed.

The image swirled and showed a series of worlds, adventures and feet. For a moment they saw their beloved mate, snuggled around them in the hamper.

Then everything went black, with only a piercing burning yellow cat eye looking back.

"I'm not Russian! They pressed me into service, I'm a Canadian citizen!" the soldier in the war torn town lifted his palms. Unfortunately for him, Lioness never forgot a face - and they have met before.

She pointed her gun to at his head, blind with sudden rage.

"You would shoot an ally?" Tiger asked quietly.

"Not our ally," she gritted. "But you're right." 

She looked at the man, trembling, and lowered her weapon. 

 "I'm a big fan of your work," she deadpanned. "Always wanted to... recreate it."

His head exploded with the echoes of pain and suffering of his victims.

"No dice with Greece," Wolf closed the laptop on his desk. "But I stumbled upon something interesting."

"It seems like some of our 'allies' from good old Constantinople have flown the co-op."

Eagle raised his eyebrows. 

"Do you think it could be related?"

"Motive and means, right? They definitely know enough to make it difficult for us to respond effectively."

"Do we have someone to set on them?"

"Osprey and Elk. He'd sure welcome some distraction."

"But she is with Lioness... speaking of 'flying the coop' - still no contact from them."

"Give the intel to Elk, see what he says."

The car they were in...probably for the last several hours finally stopped. The rough hands she started to identify as "her handler" dragged her out and this time actually blindfolded her, while she was still facing the vehicle. Not that she could see much otherwise.

Heavy door banged shut behind her, muting the street noises. Her steps and those of her captors' echoed over stone.

Another door opened and closed and the blindfold fell off, revealing a bona fide palace furnishings in a rather large suite of rooms.

"Welcome, my cherished guest," the Queen Witch's voice said, mock respectfully.

Thorne looked at the pile of papers on his desk and sighed. He picked up the bank statement with the weird transaction.

There were no pings on Maddie's personal phone. Nothing in any of the usual back up channels either.

He sighed again and reached for a cashier's check form. The amount - 888 was a code in itself. Into the "For" section he scribbled "Promotion Bonus. Confirm receipt for Agency records."

It was a good plan. Unfortunately Lioness won't look at their account until after the message becomes entirely futile.

And she won't say "I was worried, too" - by words.

Wolf and Eagle seemed to be adamant about their need to speak with Lioness.

Raven's hand combed through his hair in frustration. He brought the mug to his lips - empty.

Shaking his head the agent stalked into the kitchenette and refilled it by memory.

"...what is THIS???" he sputtered out the brown liquid which most definitely was not coffee.

"Mushroom 'coffee'," a timid voice said from behind his back. "It gives the same amount of energy, more actually, when you detox, and doesn't have the caffeine crash attached to it. The antioxidants lower cortisol..."

"But why is the coffee gone?"

Magic in artifacts was like fingerprints, you could learn a lot about the person who made them. Mouse touched the runes carefully and felt the spike.

Portals came in different shapes and forms, natural and artificial. Each hiding a story of connection and sometimes obstacles and danger. Invisible and yet undeniable. Osprey focused and stepped into one.

Emotions swirled around, left traces everywhere. A world of information, changing rapidly, flowing like a river, yet forever the same. Lioness closed her eyes to see a foreign world.

Clues, traces, puzzles. You could choose how to interpret them. Raven followed the narrative.

"You know, cemeteries are full of indispensable people," Swan uttered philosophically. "And you don't see many necromancers for hire."

Queen Witch replied, amused. "They just hate wasting time and energy on someone we can keep alive."

***

"Thank you, Hoopoe, that will help."

"I'll be in touch, Wolf, Eagle. Take care!"

The two directors nodded just as a bird landed in front of them.

Newcastle is all taken care of and ready to assist. You can take this missive as my director candidacy... Elk

"He was always... forward," Eagle shook his head. "One reason to get a hold of Lioness ASAP."