#ras squad

BIANCA

Bianca took a breath, feeling the cold air fill her lungs. Night had only just fallen in Swynlake, and the light from the full moon, hanging low in the sky, gave everything an odd, luminous glow. Just beyond the treeline, however, it was fairly dark. The trees did a very good job of blocking out the light, which would give them decent enough cover for their mission, Bianca hoped. 

It seemed like a relatively simple mission on the surface: their main priority was to find the black unicorn and make sure it lived to see another sunrise. If they could get past this full moon, then they could spend the next month organising proper protection for it. Move it perhaps, to some new location, somewhere a poacher wouldn’t think to or wouldn’t be able to find it. She would think of the specifics later - they had to protect it first.

And of course, they needed to get the poacher into their custody, but Bianca was classing that as secondary to the main mission. It would be ideal if they could apprehend him, but the unicorn was their main concern. There would be time for the rest later.

Bianca had left it up to each agent how they would reach their little rendez-vous spot for the pre-mission briefing. She hadn’t been too concerned, knowing that they would all be careful, that they would not raise any suspicion. This was to be their first mission in Swynlake together - it needed to go well. They couldn’t go outing themselves on their first proper foray into the field. 

“Alright,” She began, glancing around the group. “We all remember the plan, yes?”

GIL:

Gil was calm.

He had to be, in these moments. He’d done this before. He’d gotten so close. Sometimes he succeeded. Other times he didn’t. As he stood in the forest, the moon hanging low in the sky, peeking through the nearly-bare branches of the rattling trees, he swore that this one would not get away.

Nodding at Gabor, he swept his gaze to the rest of the team.

“Rogers, Gabor, and I will go ahead and track the herd. We have the most experience with magical animals. If necessary, Rogers will be the one who makes contact with the unicorn we’re looking for.” He crossed his arms over his chest, feeling a bit of a chill as a particularly cold gust of wind blew through them. But he did not flinch, instead looking to Roberts and Shiftwell. “The two of you will remain at the tree line — if you see any suspicious activity, contact us. We need to be in communication. If we spot the poacher before you two, we’ll lead him back there. Be ready.” 

He paused, giving everyone time to process this information. Shiftwell was practically quivering in her boots, but he was certain she had immediately digested all the orders and was processing the most optimal way to carry them out. She was over-eager, but that was good when it came to performing well — as far as he knew, this was her first big job, though, and he hoped that enthusiasm would not turn into anxiety.

“Any questions?” he asked. “If not, we can start heading out.” 

JAKE

It was a bit of a chilly night in Swynlake, Jake had been doing the calculations on how the herd might migrate given the weather in his head most of the way towards the woods. He’d been quiet for most of the way there. He wasn’t really the leader type who was barking orders until it came down to making contact with magical creatures. Then he took point. All this other coordinating he left to Bianca and Gil. 

As Gil rattled off the plan yet again, Jake cut his eyes over to Bianca over at Gabor. Honestly, he sometimes forgot that was her last name. He never used Bianca’s last name. He’d known her for too long. He still couldn’t bring himself to be entirely serious around her, but when it came down to it, he was more than serious enough. But to him, she was B or Miss B, or Bianca.

“Nah, I’m raring to go. Let’s get this settled.” He squinted as he looked out towards the direction of their usual grazing grounds. “I think they might be on the move to find a place away from the wind tonight, so we might be dealing with some more cover than usual. Keep your eyes out for hoof prints, the ground is a little damp so there should be some kind of trace of ‘em.”

He looked to Barbie and Holley with an easy sort of smirk on his face, “Keep us safe and kick some ass if necessary, yeah?” The way he talked on a mission really was a dead give away that he wasn’t academy trained, at least, he was crash course trained and a contractor that got hired on. It was also a reason why he was sure HQ would never put him in a leadership sort of role (especially after the last one that got dumped on him) so he didn’t see a reason to change.

“Right then, let’s head towards their grazing area and then try to pick up fresh tracks from out of there.”

And with that he started pushing his way through the brush, checking the compass on his watch every now and then to make sure they didn’t get turned around in the dark.

BARBIE

Barbie’s favourite part about missions were the gadgets. She had been given some new communication devices and Barbie was trying out some new material that would be thin and resistance to bullets. (Could never be too prepared). And stay warm which was always important. Functional and pretty.

Barbie was double checking and triple checking everything as everyone spoke and agreed. Simple mission or not it was good to be prepared.

“Ready to go. Everything’s set and we’ll be monitoring.” Barbie agreed adjusting her collar, no matter how many missions she went on there was always some nerves of making it perfect.

Nodding her head to the other team Barbie and Holley moved to their look out.

“Are you nervous at all Holley?”

HOLLEY:

The correct answer was that, yes, Holley was very nervous about this. But she didn’t want it to show, because this was their first big assignment in Swynlake and Holley’s first big assignment ever, and she wanted to be capable, so she just shook her head.

“No!” she said, perhaps a bit too loudly. “We’re going to catch this person — I know it. There’s nothing to be nervous about because we’re ready and we’re capable.”

If she repeated it this many times, then perhaps it might be true. 

It was cold. Holley and Barbie waited. The moon rose higher in the sky, though that did not really mean anything got brighter. If anything, it cast an eerie silver glow upon them. It was not yet cold enough for Holley’s breath to mist as she exhaled, but it was cold enough that she could feel it in the back of her throat. She shifted her weight, crunching the dead leaves behind her feet. It was still and quiet, save for the occasional gust of wind through the trees and the chatter of the forest —

And then Holley heard a crunch. 

It was unmistakably footsteps — heavy ones, too, probably wearing boots. She cast a glance at Barbie, and the two ducked behind a tree, trying to get closer to the noise. Holley held her breath. Her heart raced. She tried to remember all her training she’d gone through.

Sure enough, as they stalked closer to the noise, they saw a figure. It was hard to make out features in the darkness, but it was tall and carrying some sort of knapsack — no doubt full of hunting materials. No one would be out this late unless it was for poaching. And certainly, no one would be crouching to inspect footprints on the ground.

The two of them were a safe enough distance away, but still, Holley braced herself, preparing to run if the poacher stood up and saw them. But when the figure lifted their head, they looked in the other direction. Holley let out a breath she did not realize she was holding

“We should call the others,” she said, tapping her earpiece. “Agent Gabor — this is Shiftwell. We’ve gotten sight of a suspicious figure back here. Roberts will send over coordinates.” 

BIANCA

Bianca had been a fan of hiking, but hiking through Enchantra in the pitch black of night was starting to change her mind. At least she didn’t have to do too much - Jake was the one leading the way, weaving them through the different paths carved out by the forest. All Bianca had to do was stay alert: listen out for strange sounds, look around for any odd shadows. That much, she could do.

She hated feeling helpless. Out of her depth. That was a little how she felt here, which wasn’t at all aided by Jake’s knowledge of magical animals, and Gil’s knowledge of poaching. She knew what she would tell a fresh graduate from the academy: it’s a learning experience. Use it wisely. But she felt like she wanted to be more of use than she was at that moment, though she wasn’t entirely sure how to do it. 

So: stay alert. Look out for anything strange. The cornerstone of any RAS mission.

It always surprised her just how bright the moon could be when one needed it. The light from their torches was muted, trying not to alert the herd (or the poacher) to their presence, not wanting to scare them off, but as they came up the edge of the clearing, they almost didn’t need them. The darkness of the forest grew lighter by shade, the closer they got, like approaching the end of a tunnel. Their small group came to a stop just before the clearing itself, sheltering behind a row of shrubbery. The unicorns hadn’t spotted them yet. They stood around with their heads down, grazing, silvery tails catching the moonlight as they twitched.

“Is it here?” She asked Jake in a whisper, scanning the herd for the black unicorn. “There seems to be quite a few of them.”

JAKE

Jake lead them through the clearing, both aware of the group behind him and nearing the clearing that the herd was grazing. He held a hand up to motion for them to stop and duck behind one of the more fragrant areas to try to mask their scent in case the winds changed. 

He looked over the silvery and white bodies of the herd. The large male unicorn who Jake had seen take charge of the herd was on alert but seemed to duck his head back down. The black unicorn was much harder to spot in dim light. The black coat allowing it to blend into the shadows in the moonlight, behind trees. The unicorn had survived this long, it knew its preferred grounds well. 

Jake whispered back lowly to Gil and Bianca, “We should keep our eyes on the trees behind them, they cast enough shadow to conceal the dark one, but it wanders when it grazes so the moonlight will hit it eventually.”

He glanced over to Bianca, having a feeling of deja vu overtake him. Maybe it was just being this close to her again, hiding in the brush, trying to find an endangered creature. It reminded him of when they first met. He was a bloke who flirted with just about anyone and kept himself closed off from most people, Bianca wasn’t an exception, certainly not at first, but what had come from their Outback fling had changed his life. And it’d led him to Swynlake. To Alana. 

Bianca had been involved in a lot of important moments in Jake’s life either directly or indirectly. Years of friendship, of trust. And for a moment, he got a glimpse of the old days in the light of the moon of this newer night. He smirked a bit to himself, it was just for a moment but if anyone had been paying attention to him they would have noticed it.

But it was fleeting, and there was a shift in the posture of some of the unicorns to which moments after, Jake noticed there were other sounds, sounds that weren’t coming from the wind or the grazing animals in front of them. They were faint, but they weren’t silent. “Someone’s coming.” He whispered lowly, moving to crouch into more of a ready position for whatever might be coming. 

In the corner of his eye he saw the shine of a sleek black coat move through the trees, obviously, it had heard the noise too. “Surveillance target on the move, on your nine.” He whispered to Gil and Bianca.

BIANCA

It took a moment, but Bianca spotted it: the black unicorn, the moonlight glinting off its dark back, making it look like it was carved from obsidian. She’d had the same thought when she had seen it for the first time in the daylight: she couldn’t believe a creature like it could exist. The more she looked, the more her eyes adjusted, and she saw the way the horn protruding from its forehead seemed to glow in the moonlight. 

“Keep an eye on it, Jake,” She murmured. They couldn’t lose it now. “Agent Wahed, do you see--”

Before she could finish there was a crackle in her ear, the earpiece coming to life. A suspicious figure -- coordinates. She turned over her wrist, looking at the watch that, to anyone else, would’ve looked like any other smart watch. RAS issued, however - almost as soon as Holley finished talking, the coordinates popped up, displaying their location.

“Right on the treeline,” She said in a whisper, more to herself than to anyone else. “Shiftwell, Roberts, follow him, it might be--”

Once again, she didn’t get to finish. Because this time, when Bianca looked up, her eyes looking for the last place she had spotted the black unicorn, she saw something else glinting in the moonlight. She trained her eyes, trying to adjust to the lack of light once more, so she could make it out.

“Does anyone else see that?” She asked, squinting for a moment. 

The barrel of a gun.

“He’s here. The poacher--”

She saw a hand move, a finger twitch. The unicorn had lined itself up perfectly, the poacher would be an idiot not to take the shot. They might never get a chance like that again. Their fingers twitched towards the trigger, and Bianca did the only thing she could think to do: she flung herself forward, out of the trees, hoping to startle the herd and send them running. 

The shot was muted, hidden by some kind of silencer. The unicorns might not have heard it until it was too late. Not that it mattered; as soon as Bianca ran out into the clearing they raised their heads and scattered, hooves thundering against the earth beneath them as they tried to get to safety. The sound was almost deafening; Bianca went to shout, to send Jake and Gil after the poacher.

Her breath caught. Her heart was pounding in her ears, adrenaline coursing through her. Maybe that was why she hadn’t felt it immediately: the pain that now ripped through her, searing hot, causing her to bring her hand to her chest. When she pulled it back, blood glistened on her fingertips. She could feel it soaking her shirt, warm, sticky. She tried to swallow, tasting it in the back of her mouth. She staggered, and then she fell, gasping as she stared up at the star-filled sky above her.

GIL:

It happened very fast.

These things often did. 

One second, Gabor was standing at his side, instructing Shiftwell and Roberts over the comm line. The next, she’d torn from him, before he could even react, before he could yank her out of the way, and then in a blink of an eye, there was blood on her chest, spilling from a gaping dark wound.

Gil surged forward, catching Bianca as she fell, so that he could ease her to the ground. It was not the worst injury he’d seen — that’s what he told himself. Gabor was tough. They’d get her medical attention. They’d rush her to the hospital — 

And then he saw it.

Perhaps it was by chance. Perhaps it was by fate’s design. Whatever it was, Gil flicked his eyes up for a moment — just enough to catch sight of the poacher in the shadows. And right at that moment, light from the full moon streamed through the trees, reflecting off a pin on the hunter’s lapel, with an insignia that was seared into Gil’s mind. 

The insignia of the cartel that slaughtered his pod all those years ago. 

He knew it very well: a silver pin with an ornate design that looked like a spider if you squinted, but could simply be a geometric configuration of outstretched lines.

It was so small, yet the way the moonlight hit the pin right at this moment, it was undoubtedly the same.

Gil did not remember much of what happened next.

“He’s getting away,” he must have shouted, and then without looking back at Gabor, still stained with blood on the ground, he took off, sprinting through the trees.The poacher was running — but Gil could get him, Gil could run fast and Gil would make this man pay. The wind whipped through his hair and his eyes flashed a brutal scarlet. He bared his teeth, feeling a snarl threaten to rip through him.

He ran faster and faster, his heart pounding and nearly bursting, as he darted through the trees, led only by the sound of this man’s heavy footfalls and fueled by the rage that had consumed him for the past twelve years. He ran forward and did not look back. 

—

“Agent Gabor!?”

Holley was — 

Holley was pale. Holley was shocked. Holley dropped down to her knees and she did her best to recall her first aid training as she fumbled in her satchel for the basic supplies and recited the proper way to patch up a gunshot wound under her breath. 

There was so much blood.

Moments after they’d radioed Agent Gabor, they heard shouting, then Agent Wahed yelling something about someone getting away, and then Jake stuttering something that Holley could not quite make out, but immediately, Barbie had grabbed her hand and they’d run. 

Jake looked frazzled, more frazzled than Holley had ever seen him. Barbie was at Holley’s side. Agent Wahed was nowhere to be seen.

This was her fault, Holley realized with a pang, her fault because this mission was based on her intel and — 

She couldn’t think of that. Not now. 

— 

Gil was alone.

Gil was alone in the forest, his breath hitching, as he collapsed to his knees to the cold forest floor.

The poacher had gotten away. The fucking poacher had gotten away because Gil was not fast enough, because he was not strong enough, because he hesitated too long. He looked at his hands, the blood of his pod staining them forever, because he was too weak to avenge them, too weak to —

The blood on his hands.

With a jolt, he remembered — Bianca.

—

“You’ll be alright,” repeated Holley for the tenth time. Her fingers fumbled and she blinked away tears. There was so much blood. Agent Gabor — fearless, compassionate, brilliant Agent Gabor — looked pale. Her breathing was staggered. The blood was spreading, despite Holley and Barbie’s best efforts. “We need to get you to a hospital, but you’ll be alright.”

The truth of the matter was that Holley did not know this, but if she kept repeating it, she told herself, maybe it would be true. 

—

When Gil returned, he knew.

“He got away,” he said, voice clipped and short. 

He couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. He couldn’t look at Bianca. Because he knew. 

He crouched down, next to Gabor, then flicked his eyes to Roberts and Shiftwell.

“You two need to leave,” he said. “You don’t have a reason to have been out here with her. You will be each other’s alibis. Rogers and Gabor were out — old friends on a hike, checking out the herd. A hunting accident.” He paused. “We can get her to the hospital. We can say you ran into me on the way back, down by the lake —” 

Bianca inhaled and Gil finally flicked his gaze towards her. At this point, the scarlet had faded though hints of red still tinged his dark eyes. He swallowed.

The poacher got away — one part of him screamed and demanded he throw himself back into the woods and search till morning for the stranger with the gun. 

Gabor is dying — another part dug its heels into the ground and forced him to stay.

Both these things could be true. Both these things were true. 

It did not make either one easier to accept.

JAKE

The shot had gone off and everything just went. Everything just carried on through, Gil got to Bianca first and in a flash he was gone and Jake was now the one holding her as the blood spread through her clothes.

Holley and Barbie came rushing in and Jake vaguely remembered he had radioed that the shots fired and couldn’t choke out the rest of it. 

He gazed down into Bianca’s face, he couldn’t say a thing. For the first time in their almost decade long friendship, he didn’t have a quip to say. Not as her pained eyes stared up at him. Not as the red seeped down through and into his own clothing. Not as Holley and Barbie tried to help him with the wounds.

Gil was talking, he heard clips of it. Little sound bites. He got the picture. It would just be him and Bianca in the end. He’d have to make sure her cover was secure. The thing she held dearly to her, her job, he’d make sure she went out without a flaw. “Yeah, I-I’ll handle the story. Just go.”

Jake sniffled, realizing his face was wet with tears, his words quivering under his breath, not sure if they’d left already or not but the rest of the world faded out of his senses and it was just him and Bianca on the forest floor, “C’mon B, you’ve handled worse. It’s just like old times. You’ll be back up and giving me one of those firm shoves of yours.” His hands were shaking and he choked back a breath, “You’re part of everything I’ve got, B. I c-can’t lose ya. You’ll fight this.”

He sat up and looked up at the sky, fighting back the sobs that threatened to come out. He was trying to be strong for the team, it was what she’d want. She’d want him to guide the team. He looked back down to her and he couldn’t help what he was rambling, “It’s just another night out in New Zealand, yeah? You and me, Miss B. Remember? You changed my life, B.” He whispered softly, tears welling in his eyes, “Ya know I love ya, right?”

BARBIE

For most people this is when things started to blur. Anger, fear, sadness, despair. It circled your mind until you couldn’t do anything else. Barbie wasn’t immune. The moment Holley and her got to Bianca her throat clenched and she was immediately on guard.

Holley dropped to try to stop the bleeding, Jake was struggling and Gil was nowhere to be found. She could track him. It wasn’t hard to see what direction he had run in. But Barbie also had a job here.

“Agent 404. Report your status.” Barbie called out as she watched hope drain out from in front of her.

She made sure Holley was doing what she could and leaned down to help her own hands covered in blood while she watched her surroundings. They had gotten close to the poacher and even if Gil was following there was no promise they wouldn’t double back.

There was nothing else that could be done. There was a good chance they wouldn’t be able to get Bianca to the hospital in time and although tears gathered at her eyes there wasn’t time for this. Not with the whole team here. They needed to move quickly so Bianca had the best chance.

Looking briefly at Bianca, Barbie offered her the smallest smile. She would protect everyone here. She had to. She would do her best to protect Bianca too.

So they needed a plan.

“We need to take Bianca’s gear. Anything you can’t hide or explain, Holley and I will take it. We’ll meet you at the hospital. Jake will call Holley and I’ll come as support.” There was no time to waste, the sooner they moved the sooner Jake and Gil could get her there. 

“Move!” Barbie commanded gathering anything they needed to and making sure Holley was on her tail. Quietly and quickly, there was no explaining the blood on them if they were caught. 

“Take your jacket off, flip your shirt and look at me.” This would be Holley’s first potential death in the field. If they were lucky it was just a bad injury. But Barbie wasn’t counting on luck. Not with everything she had seen. “We’re going to have to get into our building without drawing attention. We can scale it if you’re able.” But that didn’t change the fact it was by the University. A lot of people could still be out.”

BIANCA

The lesson that was pressed upon all new recruits to the Society was that this kind of job could get you killed. It would most likely get you killed, even if you knew how to do it well. There was a certain element of luck to being an agent; no mission could be planned out from beginning to end to ensure success. There were variables. Always, variables.

And Bianca had lost agents in the field before. Some she knew well, others she didn’t. Some hit her harder than others, and some she could pick herself up from and carry on sooner than she’d like to admit. It was a reality of their work - sometimes, people died.

Bianca was only sorry that it had to happen this time.

She didn’t hit the ground like she was expecting; someone caught her, lowered her down to the floor, and she was grateful for it. She didn’t think she would’ve been able to stand of her own accord. And from the ground, looking up at the sky, she could see an almost overwhelming amount of stars.

It reminded her of being a little girl. Standing at the very bottom of the lawns at the back of their too-big house, trying to escape the effect of the light filtering out from inside. Even as close to Budapest as they were, there had been so many stars. Her father had stood beside her, pointing out Orion, Taurus, Ursa Major. Her mother had clucked her tongue and told her to look harder - she had pointed out Perseus, Cassiopeia. Bianca had just enjoyed looking. Wondering at how large a universe could exist, and how much of it she would get to see.

The stars blurred together now, distorting themselves into strange shapes. Bianca’s hand was still pressed to her chest, her fingers warm and wet with her own blood. She looked down, but she couldn’t see the wound itself.

Instead, she was met with faces. Her team. Gil appeared a moment after the rest, but Bianca understood - he wanted to catch the poacher. She wanted him to catch him, too. She couldn’t blame him for going. 

And she was glad, when he and Barbie took control. They would need to step up, the both of them, but she trusted them to. If anything, she found herself rather proud of them, and a little annoyed at herself; she could’ve been delegating more this entire time. 

She wished she could reassure Holley. Maybe she would be alright, maybe she wouldn’t. But Holley had done her job either way, and she had done it admirably. She would be a wonderful agent - one of the best.

Each one of them disappeared, one after the other, until it was just herself and Jake. Bianca had heard the plan, and she agreed with it. It made the most sense. She and Jake had the most reason to be out together, but she was sorry that he would have to be the one to bring her back. She did remember New Zealand. There had been stars there, too. Millions of them. And she wished she could tell Jake how much she loved him, how he had been her very best friend, but she still couldn’t catch her breath. She couldn’t make a sound, blood thick at the back of her mouth. She could only use the last of her strength to take his hand, press a kiss to his palm, and give his wrist a weak squeeze. She hoped it translated well.