#agent lance

Chance chuckled a little to herself. Here she was basically playing mom. She’d showed the Twins how to use the microwave which had cheered up Violet to no end. She was now sat atop her pile of cushions merrily eating the rest of her oatmeal. She was the antithesis to her sister with her blond hair, pink skirt and bright green fuzzy sweater.

“Now all I need to do is figure out who to call to look after you two.” And then find Davidius. She hated the fact that she’d already wasted time but she couldn’t just abandon the twins. She’d made Pete a promise.

Scarlett frowned a little. “You’re not planning on staying.”

Chance shook her head. “No. I need to look for your Dad, plus you can’t stay here.”

Violet froze. “But all my toys are here!” she whined.

Scarlett gave her sister a cold look while Chance moved so she could look Violet in the eyes. “It’ll be ok Violet. It won’t be for long.”

“Promise?” Violet looked unsure.

“Promise.” Chance felt the weight of that word almost immediately. She stood before anything else could be said and pulled out her phone. Just who to call?

..........

Ginger blinked at the force the back door to the van was opened with. Staring into the scarred face of an angry rabbit made her laugh a little.

“Something funny Hollywood!?” Snarled Levi. “You were supposed to be in Moscow! Where the fuck is Agent Zmeya?”

“Aw is the widdle bunny mad?” She caught sight of Lance in the background trying not to laugh.

Levi scowled. “I should lock you up.”

“Go ahead.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. She heard the growl and smirked. She’d quit the Agency he had no power here. “You don’t have anything on me.”

“Destruction of property.”

“Fine. Satisfy your ego then Mr Director if you so wish but I think you have bigger things to worry about.” She half expected him to slam the door and be done with it.

“Wish I could Hollywood, wish I could.” He sighed.

Ginger opened her eyes. “Also could you drop the nickname I was an extra in like a half dozen movies, nothing special.”

“Fine, DeAngelo. Where’s Zmeya?”

She shifted to face him. “You really don’t like first names do you?”

“Where is he?”

“No idea. He escaped out the back with the owner and a mundane.”

“Shit.” He hit the side of the van hard enough to leave a dent Ginger could see on the inside.

“Whoa... ease up there Levi. Haven’t even told you the bad news yet.”

“What!?”

“Griggers knew the woman behind the curse.” She smirked as she used the pet name

Levi blinked. “Griggers?”

“Yeah....” She paused. He looked ready to flip the van over. That name meant something to him. Why?

“Vetra Kremkin.” He flipped a phone out of his pocket and began to dial.

(And as promised the second post for Malentendu today. Both short ones but eh... still the story flows..... well trickles I guess.... 

Taglist!! [ask to be added/Deleted] {No Cybermen involved in the Deletion. Promise}

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Chance turned slowly to find a young girl stood at the top of the stairs. Black dress, long, straight black hair and a blank look on her face.

“Hi..... Scarlett right?”

The girl nodded. “You’re the woman with the gun who visited my Father once.”

“Yeah...... sorry about the swearing....”

“Adults say a lot of things without thinking.”

Truth from the mouth of a child. “So where were you hiding?”

“Upstairs.”

Chance frowned a little. Upstairs. This place had another floor? “Where?”

Scarlett pointed up. “Upstairs, in our bedroom.”

Our..... “Is your sister there now?”

“Yes. She’s sulking because she didn’t get to finish her food.”

No words stressed more than any other. It was still like talking to a person who didn’t feel anything about anything. “Well...... she could finish it now.”

“It will be cold.”

“It can be reheated. You guys have a microwave right?”

Chance watched as confusion broke through the normally expressionless face. “I don’t know.”

Chance made her way up the stairs. “Well guess we find out together. How do you get upstairs to your room?”

Scarlett blinked a little. “I hid the stairs.” She waved a hand and a spiral staircase appeared at the end of the hallway near the door that Chance assumed led to a small bedroom.

“Cool.” Chance grimaced a little. The girl had ghosted an entire floor of a building like it was nothing. “Neat trick.”

Scarlett shrugged. “I will have to fetch my sister. She will still be sulking.”

“Ok. I’ll wait here for you.” She watched the girl climb the stairs and open a hatch then vanish into a room Chance had been completely unaware of. “Pete..... I’d kill you if you weren’t already dead.”

......

Ginger grunted as she watched Lance’s reaction before waving a clawed hand and him and pointing to the van.

“Cloooothes...... rrrrrr...”

“Shit. Sure.” He mumbled before opening the back of the van for her.

She was amused by how this was all playing out. Bet he’d never dealt with a cooperative werewolf before. She clambered into the van and although it wasn’t very comfortable it allowed her the privacy to relax and focus on shifting back to her human self. The door closed with a thunk of the locking mechanism.

A few minutes later and she had pulled on a set of sweatpants and a hoodie both a dull, boring grey color that were in the back for the very reason that changing shape had a tendency to ruin one’s clothes unless you had them bonded to you magically and Ginger didn’t really like that idea, meant you ended up like a cartoon character always wearing the same clothes and ended up using magic to veil yourself so people wouldn’t notice that fact. She leaned against the side of the van. Changing shape always took it out of her. Nothing much more to do other than relax and talk her way out of the situation when they drove her back to wherever they were stationed nowadays. She glanced at the door guessing that the Agency would have only improved such things since she quit so escaping really wasn’t an option anyway. Time to relax, recover and enjoy the ride.

(OK.... yesterday wiped me out so  I didn’t post anything therefore today this is the first of 2 intended Malentendu posts. Short one but..... eh. Writing is writing.

Tag time!

@yuutfa @calyptrastudios @anntarinsanitymaterialized @sleepy-and-anxious and @wordsaremylife

Nikolai checked his watch again. “Where the fuck is he?” he asked the woman standing to his left. She’d been silent this whole time making him wonder just why The Gentleman had left her to watch over the shipment in the first place.

“He will be here at the appointed time.” she said with no emotion.

“You sound like a robot you know that?” he asked. The woman offered no reply. “Fine. I still have clients that are into that sort of thing if you ever get tired of your current boss.” Still nothing. Jeez this lady was a robot. He’d been trying for the past 15 minutes to get a reaction to no avail. He idly kicked the crate on the loading dock in frustration. “Lee’s never late you know. Should have made the deal with him instead.”

“He will be here at the appointed time.”

He shook his head. Something was wrong here. She was like a character in a video game, only programmed with one reply. He frowned and focused, fuck professional courtesy he needed to know what was going on. “Shit!” It didn’t take long to figure out what was up. “You’re a Doll! A fucking Doll!”

Naturally she didn’t reply Dolls weren’t made for complex interactions. Nikolai kicked at the crate again as a car pulled up and a familiar face got out.

“Hello Director Jensen, here to try the lasagna again?”

“At the loading dock of your restaurant? You’re a bigger idiot than I thought Eros.”

“Aw.... that hurts. Also you don’t need to veil we’re all friends here.”

“Do you want to be cited for freaking out Mundanes?” Jensen looked at the woman. “You know Dolls are illegal right?”

“Not mine.” Nikolai backed off from the crate while another man in a suit looked it over.

“We’ll see about that.” He waved a hand and the woman collapsed. “Huh.... guess not. Lance open that crate.”

“Sir.” The other man looked around. “We clear Director?”

Jensen nodded. “Proceed.”

Nikolai stepped forward again. “We can get a tool he’s going to....”

“Open this crate and examine its contents. Step back Eros. Lance.”

Lance took a breath and a beam of light shot from his fist into the crate and using it much like a crowbar he popped the crate open before removing the lid for a look. “Fish sir. Swordfish.”

“Fish?” asked Jensen.

Nikolai chuckled. “We are outside my restaurant. Just got them delivered.”

“Don’t lie to me” snapped Jensen as he walked over to investigate. “Guess now we get messy. Lance check the fish and the ice please.”

Lance looked a little unsure but used his trick again this time to slice open the fish and sift through the ice.

Nikolai rocked back and forth on his heels waiting for the inevitable.

“Nothing.” said Lance. “Just swordfish.”

“Really?” Jensen was confused. “The tipper was quite insistent.”

Oh.... thought Nikolai. Good thing I’d expected this. He’d had a bad feeling about The Gentleman ever since they’d started working together on this. He shook his head. “Congratulations Director, The Agency now owes me for ruining my shipment.”

“Shut up Eros. I still have you on the Doll.”

Nikolai smiled. “Do the tests. It’s not mine.”

“Who does it belong to then?” Jensen scowled and stepped right up to him.

Nikolai just held up his hands. “The owner of these fish.”

“Thought they were yours Eros?”

“Oh they are but I bought too many. I have other friends in the restaurant business. They sent this thing” he nodded in the direction of the woman “To check to see I was giving them fresh merchandise.”

“Fresh merchandise huh? Who’s the buyer then?”

Nikolai fished out a business card and handed it to him.

Jensen’s scowl worsened as he waved it in front of Nikolai. “This is a blank piece of card Eros! Get in the back of the car we’re going back to HQ to have a chat. Lance grab the Doll.”

Nikolai stuttered.... “B-b.....” 

...........

Chance finished her glass of wine. “So he tried to screw you over while you were screwing him over, cute. What was supposed to be in the fish?”

Nikolai stopped, a piece of swordfish on his fork “Nothing you need concern yourself with Chance.”

“Oh come on Nik. You got me all invested in this now.”

“If you recall I didn’t want to talk about this. You got all upset and made me talk.”

“You’re the one who wanted to trade stories. This is your fault.”

He nodded as he took the bite of fish. “Fair enough. It was a statue of Pan. Probably part of the reason he asked me to help him move it, I’d be careful with it.”

Chance nodded. “Alright. You’ve still got it don’t you?”

Nikolai almost choked on the fish.

“Fuck.... I hate Fate.”

(Alrighty twice in one day...... yay. Taglist time

@yuutfa @calyptrastudios @anntarinsanitymaterialized

Ginger shifted to sit at the back of the van. Watching Levi pace around while shouting Russian into a phone was interesting to watch. She waved at Lance.

“Yeah? You need something Hollywood?” He wandered over putting away a small notebook.

“That’s not magic is it?” She pointed to the angry rabbit man on the phone. “He actually speaks Russian.”

Lance shrugged. “Guess so.” He paused and looked at the Director. “Yeah, no magic there.”

“Plenty of anger though.”

“Too much for this to be anything small. What’d you tell him?”

Ginger looked around a little. “Nothing really just a pet name the woman used for Grigory.”

Lance leaned against the van. “That’s it? A pet name?” He looked at the dent Levi had left in the van. “Really?”

Ginger held up her hands. “By the Maker, that’s the truth.”

“Who’s Grigory anyway?”

“Guy I met in Russia. Fellow Agent. Surprised you don’t know him already. You don’t have either a cigarette or shoes do you?”

“Never met anyone from a foreign office. Shoes? They’re back at control. And cigarettes? Really? Get with the times Hollywood. People vape now.”

Ginger leaned back and narrowed her eyes slightly. “Did you just call me old?”

Lance chuckled. “Kinda did didn’t I? Seriously though smoking cigarettes is old news.”

She sighed and then smiled. “Part of the reason I liked the snake I could bum cigarettes off of him.”

“Snake?” Lance sucked in a breath with a whistle. “Not many of those guys left from what I hear.”

“They’re just into living the quiet life.”

“Really? Then what’s up with this Gr....” He paused. “Gregory?”

“Grigory. I only cause him Greg because he reacts and it’s amusing.”

Lance chuckled again. “Real snake charmer you.”

Ginger shrugged.

“So why is he part of this mess?” Lance gestured to the various other agents scurrying about cordoning off the scene and weaving protective magicks.

“Never asked. Hope he’s ok.”

“If he’s part of the Agency he’ll be fine. Plus he’s with Nikolai right?”

“Yeah. You know him?”

“Arrested him a few times. He comes across as soft but he has his edges.”

“Then I hope the both of them keep Nancy safe.”

“Nancy?”

“Nikolai’s mundane girlfriend. Whoever this Vetra woman is she doesn’t strike me as one to care about collateral damage.”

Lance blew out a breath. “Sorry.”

Ginger frowned. “What for?” She shifted position slightly.

“I think I’m the one who started this mess.”

Before Ginger could ask what Lance was talking about there was a loud shout of “FUCKING BUREAUCRATS!” and the sound of an expensive phone being thrown into the ground. Lance winced.

“Phonecall didn’t go well by the looks of it.” Said Lance.

Before Ginger could again ask Lance to clarify his thoughts Levi walked over.

“Lance!”

“Sir?”

“I’m leaving you in charge of this mess. I want the persons responsible found. You have licence to use Agency assets as you see fit. Am I clear?”

Lance blinked but nodded. “Sir!”

“I’m heading to Moscow. There is a nose that needs to be broken.”

“What about me?” Asked Ginger wondering just who was going to be on the receiving end of the rabbit’s wrath.

“Assist Agent Lance in any way you can Hollywood. I know you’re not on the books anymore but that fact alone can be very useful.” He gave Lance a small smile before walking away and pointing at one of the other agents. “You! Agent! I need a bridge to Moscow, NOW!”

Lance took a deep breath. “Great.... the promotion I’ve always wanted.”

(Right..... title wasn’t lying Levi is one angry bunny. What? No..... I didn’t skip writing about Chance because I’ve no idea who she would call...... that’s ridiculous. Ooooh look a taglist!

@yuutfa @calyptrastudios @anntarinsanitymaterialized @sleepy-and-anxious and @wordsaremylife

No..... 4 doors to go. As she exited the lounge 2 more doors were visible on her right that would have been hard to spot from the stairway. Chance kicked herself mentally. “Focus.” Another centering breath later and she allowed her mind to work through the layout. Door at the end of the hall was above the kitchen/lounge downstairs. Another kitchen perhaps? No reason for him to have to use the guest kitchen for himself, plus he had twin daughters now to take care of. The Clockmaker was certainly trying to keep them away from his work if he could. Other 2 doors down that way..... bathroom and.... linen closet. That would make sense. No reason to have to have plumbing run through the entirety of the house after all. Keep the rooms that needed a water supply close together. Now for the room the at the other end of the hall. Bedroom? Probably. Although with the size of the lounge that room would be small. Chance frowned. Where did the twins sleep? Was it in that room at the end of the hall? She could easily picture The Clockmaker having a cot in his workshop. He always did keep odd hours. Left first, towards the kitchen she decided. VP9 leading the way she crept along the hall.

.....

“Dog pound this is control do you copy, over?” The radio crackled into life catching Agents Lance and Augur off guard on their otherwise quiet shift.

Lance grabbed the receiver. “Control, this is Dog Pound. We hear you loud and clear, over.”

“Dog Pound we have reports of a puppy at 69th and Park in the vicinity of The Elysian Fields. Code white. I repeat code white.”

“Copy that Control. Dog Pound is on route.” Lance replaced the receiver.

Augur chuckled. “Near the Greek afterlife huh? Bit of a trek.” He flicked the turn signal of the van and forced his way into the turn lane.

“It’s a restaurant.”

“Really?” Augur checked the mirrors and ignored the honking. “Code white though.”

“Yeah.” Agreed Lance. “Thank The Maker for that at least. Was afraid our night was going to get ruined by the last call we got being Crimson.”

“Shame though. I kinda wanted to flick on the lights and drive crazy.”

Lance narrowed his eyes. “We are not in a movie.”

Augur chuckled. “Really? You do see what we do everyday? How’d you end up on Dog Pound duty anyway?”

Lance shrugged. “Levi.... The Director assigned it to me.”

“Really?” He stopped at a light and watched the people cross. “Piss him off again?”

“Don’t think so. He’s just in one of those you need to be here moods.”

“But you know the place we’re headed.”

“Yeah.... I hate when he does this.”

“Kinda why he’s still director, even after the..... Incident...... and all that followed.”

“Yeah.”

“So.... we got a few. What’s this place like?”

“Run by a Satyr called Nikolai Eros. Copped him on petty smuggling and stuff like that. Keeps a low profile and a nice restaurant.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Greek, Italian and stuff like that. Heard it was a favorite of Smiths.”

“The fabled one word bandit?” Augur chuckled. “The Director is fucking with you.”

“I hope so. The alternative is worse.”

.......

Bathroom, then linen closet. So far, so right. She pushed the door at the end open and swept left to right with the VP9. Kitchen was clear. She ducked and rounded the door. Dining area. Nice dark wood table and chairs. Windows were high but let in light. Chance stood and saw an abandoned bowl of oatmeal near a chair piled high with cushions. Someone had been here recently. She touched the bowl, only slightly warm but definitely the first sign of life so far. From the amount of syrup in the oatmeal it definitely must have been one of the twins. No sign of a struggle though. Perhaps they hid? The Bedroom? Chance frowned. Something wasn’t quite adding up here. “Focus.” Another deep breath. Scents assaulted her as she leaned into her heritage, her eyes changing from their normal emerald green to a more amber hue. She stepped into the hallway again. Only 3 scents stood out on this floor. The downstairs would be a cacophony for sure but here was much calmer. Only her scent disturbed the tranquility that The Clockmaker had worked to instill. Chance put the gun away and let out a sigh.

“Davidius. What happened?”

(And so the story continues....

Once again time for the tags [poke me to be added/deleted]

@yuutfa @calyptrastudios @anntarinsanitymaterialized @sleepy-and-anxious

Lance ran his hand along the wall, damp and cold. “This is the place.” he said, his words turning to steam as the temperature dropped.

“C’mon. Drop the act. I don’t want to be here any more than you do.”

His only answer was a distant knocking.

“All the cliches it is then.” The knocking grew in intensity followed by someone saying his name.

Lance shook his head. This was not the time to lose focus.

The knocking grew louder, more insistent. That voice…. Familiar.

Lance’s eyes snapped open. He was in his car. The knocking. The window.

One hand rubbed at his eyes while the other hit the switch to lower the window.

“About time. Thought you guys were called The Vigilant?”

As his vision cleared he focused on the familiar face of a female minotaur. “Ruby?”

She smiled and held up a paper bag and a takeout cup. “Breakfast is served.”

“What?” It took him a moment but eventually he reached out and took the proffered items.

“Big Break sandwich and a large coffee. You look like you need it.”

“Thanks.” he took a sip of the coffee and felt some of the weariness wash away with its warmth. “What do I owe ya, Ruby?”

She laughed. “Nothing. Levi called the order in.”

“Shit.” The director.

“Hey, you need anything else I’ll be inside.” She gestured back to the 147 diner over her shoulder.

Lance watched her go wondering just how the hell the Director knew as much as he did.

Almost as if summoned Lance’s phone produced an ominous ringtone.

Lance fumbled at the phone’s screen. “Lance here.”

“Ah, Agent, so you are awake.”

“Yes, Director.”

“Lance.”

“Yes, Director.”

“Go sleep in a bed, that’s an order.”

“Working. You know how it is.”

A slight pause and a soft sigh. “Yes, I do. The World has changed Agent. I’ve lost too many operatives to this shift. I don’t need to lose you because of your insistence on pushing yourself too far.”

Lance remained quiet. He knew exactly what the director was referring to. The Shattering or the Great Reveal or whatever other names got thrown at that day. The day that any kind of magic meant to conceal oneself failed. The day the mortal world was introduced to the Supernatural one. Rumour had it that fabled one word bandit was hot on the heels of whoever pulled that off before they ended up in a coma and that was over 2 years ago.

“Agent….. Lance, you still with me?”

“Y-yeah. Sorry.”

“Get some rest. Proper rest. Sleeping in your car in the 147 parking lot doesn’t count.”

“But, sir.”

“I need you at 100 percent, Lance.”

“The case? Marco….”

“Can wait. We’re already stretched thin. If you don’t want to go home the 147 is right there. If your lucky Ruby might even let you sleep alone this time and actually get some rest.”

Lance felt glad that this wasn’t a video call. “Yeah…. Rest.”

Lance looked at the fallen attackers, some dead, some not. “This is about Paris?”

Ginger smirked. “Not this. This is petty revenge disguised as making a statement.”

“Petty? I just killed 3 people.”

“Oh. Were we supposed to be keeping score.” Ginger patted down one of the bodies.

“You’re not going to find ID Hollywood. Can’t believe you were ever part of The Agency.”

Ginger rolled her eyes and came up with a pack of cigarettes. “Don’t need ID Agent Dunce. Werewolf remember.”

Lance just waved her off. “You’ve been following me for how long?”

She shrugged and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag before answering. “Long enough that I need a drink.”

“The Director let you drink on the job?”

“Director only cares about results. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

Lance tried to adjust his suit and just ended up tossing his jacket away. “He cares. Said he’s burned some bridges to cut off this fire.”

“Levi says a lot of things. You know why he sent you after me?”

“I was the one who picked you up at the restaurant. No sense briefing someone else on the ex agent causing a mess.”

She shook her head and laughed. “You really are ‘the best of us’ aren’t you?” she said making the quotes with her fingers.

“Fuck you Hollywood. At least I take this seriously. I’ve read your file.”

“Cool. I haven’t. Does it say why I quit?”

Lance rubbed his chin. “No. It says you were discharged over failing to follow orders and that considering your past performances there was no disciplinary action taken. You got out clean, sort of.”

“Ha. I left because of Agent Smith.”

“The One word Bandit? What? He talk too much for you?”

“Holy shit!” Ginger flicked away the cigarette and lit another. “Holy fucking shit!”

“What? And those things will kill you, never mind all the drinking.”

“Werewolf.”

“So?”

“You really are all kept in the dark aren’t you? No wonder the Cheshire got out. Probably saw all the same problems I did.”

“What are you talking about Hollywood?”

“Lots of things. The Director sent you after me because you’re on the List.”

“Yeah. So what?”

“So you’re Iron Man and I’m Captain America. Cool.”

Lance threw his hands up into the air. “What the fuck are you on about?”

“Doesn’t read, doesn’t see, just blindly follows the orders. Fuck you Levi. Anyone else. Would have taken anyone else. Especially since it seems the snake is a snake. Fucking stereotype.”

Lance shook his head. “Look, you lost me. Can we start over?”

Ginger shook her head. “Can’t do Tony we go places to go.”

“Tony?”

“Really? Do you even follow the conversation that you’re in or are you so preprogrammed to follow orders nothing else matters?”

“Look. I just got jumped by a half dozen guys. I don’t like using my abilities this way but if I have to, I will. I’m an Agent. I keep people safe from people like me who feel they can just use their power however they want. Life’s gotten harder since New York that is for sure, but I gotta do what I can to keep the peace. IF that means working with you, so be it. What the fuck are we doing?”

“Well I hope you’re up for more cos where I plan to go they’re not going to take kindly to an Agent strolling in.”

“And where is that?”

“Nemesis.”

(Yay Writing! Taglist:

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