Ch. 4 - If Not Us...

The three agents said goodnight as they separated into the rooms of their apartment, all of them pretty sure they won't sleep two winks tonight. But staying together would have meant having conversations and those seemed even less appealing right now.
Risa was irritated. She always preferred action to inaction, but this time the challenge seemed to be tailored directly for her.
A portal. Loud. Very probably booby-trapped, if whoever did this knew what they were about... and everything else suggested they did. The fact that her two colleagues could just walk away from it was reason enough to be infuriated. A portalist who would do this on the loose? That was a threat that should not stand, it should not be allowed to 'wait until new orders come'. The trail will be cold by then, the challenge all the bigger and more dangerous. She threw herself on top of the bedcovers, not even attempting to change or do anything else.
Dwayne was tired, still trying to remove the kinks from his muscles, strained by fighting the effect of the paralyzing dart. He was also furious, because someone took his ward and killed his team in front of his very eyes and there was nothing on this goddamned Earth he could have done about it. He paced the length of his room, a caged tiger, growling his discontent.
Maddie was literally shaking as she stepped into the shower. The emotions of her two fellow agents were loud and raw, intrusive even. But she welcomed them, because her own threatened to overwhelm her. The hot water relaxed her body.
She is dead. She *has to be*. And yet. She was alive when they took her. And she could not fight herself free. Which means she surely must be dead now... Maddie's thoughts floated on the droplets slipping down her body, until finally disappearing into the blackness of the drain. ...unless someone has a way to *keep* her alive.
The last thought sent a shiver of cold dread through her, despite the whole room being filled with hot steam.
The implications of Swan being taken alive, and being unable to escape that predicament in any way, were just too dire to even consider. It would literally be a fate worse than death - in so many ways, potentially for all of them.
Lioness shook off the sensation, finally stepped out of the shower, dried herself and got dressed again, sleep and tiredness suddenly even further from her mind.
She barged into Tiger's room without knocking, which she realized was a mistake, as she took a swift flight to the ground, when he caught and threw her. Fortunately her training was fresh enough she turned the fall into a roll - unfortunately that roll ended with her hitting the bedpost, as there was really almost no space.
"Ugh."
Tiger was glaring at her as she massaged her bruised side, but didn't say anything. Which was fine with her.
"I need to know *exactly* what happened in that room, Tiger," she started instead, picking herself off the floor and stepping closer to her colleague. It was his turn to wince.
"Nothing that you could fix, Lioness," he growled stubbornly.
"Not why I'm asking. And no, I don't blame *you* for any of it either. I just need to know. Because you're alive. And Swan is gone. And... she was alive when they took her out of that room."
He was fighting an inner battle, quite obviously. In the end his professional side won over his hurt pride. He let himself sink onto a chair, and Lioness perched on the corner of the bed.
"How much do you know of our mission?" he asked.
"Nothing, and I don't need to, unless you think this was connected."
He shrugged, doubt flashing through his eyes.
"No idea. But I doubt the particulars matter. We were almost ready to go home, when they came in. Business like, made it sound like they just have another, related matter to discuss with Swan. Which I wasn't buying. My guys were checking credentials, and the usual... then that dang portal opened and out came the rest of them. The first one fired at Swan. I..."
Tiger's left hand touched the right side of his neck.
"Are you hurt?"
She should have asked this way sooner, of course.
"It was not a bullet," he grumbled. "It was a f**king paralyzing dart."
"You took a shot for Swan," Lioness' voice was suddenly gentle.
"It's my job."
She nodded, not saying anything else, just waiting for him to continue.
"By the time I hit the ground, real bullets were flying. She went down with me, and for a moment she managed to stagger them with something. I tried to move. To see better. But I couldn't. But I saw her standing up again, stepping out of cover. No idea what she thought she was doing. That's when the bullets started again, felling the rest of the team. Swan... she was hit with another paralyzer, I am pretty sure. That's when the other portal came, they dragged her through... some of them stayed for a moment, checked us... not too thorough, really, because they would have had to finish me otherwise... they stepped through that portal before it closed. I heard the phones go off. Didn't know what the message was, until you turned up."
He finished with another shrug.
By now Osprey was standing in the still open door, and her eyes were shooting lightnings.
"Everyone else is dead," she began, obviously intending to continue at some length, but Lioness cut her off.
"...except what if Swan *isn't*?"
Tiger's emotions flashed through with amazing speed.
"She is. She *must* be."
"Because of you," Osprey interjected.
Tiger turned to her, apparently ready for a fight.
"No." Lioness would have none of that. Not now.
"Look, Tiger, you know it, I know it - she should be. She would be. Omega means nobody is coming. Heck, Swan knew that. She said it, probably as they were taking her. Nobody. Is. Coming. If she could not fight her way out..."
"She would make sure she dies. That's exactly what she did. Isn't it?" Tiger's voice rose, trying to convince himself most of all.
Lioness shrugged.
"I don't know. But I have this gut feeling. What if... what if she couldn't?"
"Couldn't die?"
"I agree it is extremely unlikely. It would take someone with powers that are beyond... impressive, for the lack of better words. But this whole thing does not exactly scream *amateur hour*, does it?" Lioness ran her hand through her hair in a gesture she shared with Raven. She could feel Osprey's emotions flicker with disdain for a moment, but the agent didn't speak up, possibly because she actually *liked* where this conversation seemed to be headed.
"What are you saying, Lioness?" Tiger's voice was a challenge.
She shook her head. This was it. The moment that they will be pointing to later. Because all three of them knew at that point. And all three of them agreed. But none of them was eager to voice it first.
Which, she realized with amazing clarity, is complete and utter bullshit. Because whatever is waiting on the other side of this - it cannot possibly be any worse than the alternative.
"What I am saying, Tiger," her eyes bore into his, making it patently obvious she knew that he knew, "is we better be damn sure. And if we are not, then we need to check. Nobody knows you survived. Nobody knows we are here. So it is up to us. Because," and with that she pointed to each of them in turn: "Nobody. Is. Coming."
There was a shift in the mood of the room. Grim determination settled over them, with a level of thinly veiled (and a little horrified) excitement from Osprey.
As the day started breaking, they left the hotel and headed back to the remote office building they left only a few short hours earlier.