A Second Generation Whateley Academy Adventure

Jailhouse Lock

by

MaLAguA

Part Five

Sunday, January 30th - 8:00pm
Stonewall Prison - Yard’s west wall

“You’re not on this job to be seen, Obscura. A bit of a warning, be careful when you step out. There’ll be greeters on the other side,” were Lifeward’s words as the orb went silent.

“Great great,” Obscura said, her mind glossing over the last warning Lifeward gave them. Instead, she focused on getting a proper assessment of all that was going on.

After breaking Fulminant free from solitary confinement and climbing their way up to the yard, rather than running to the rendez-vous point on the wall, the group had opted to hide around the corner, behind Building B as the whole riot slowly died down. The fighting was still going on in the distance, but the tide had turned in favor of the prison guards the moment the helicopter had appeared. It was no longer the screams of defiance intermingled with the sounds of gunfire, but now the commands of the guards ordering the stragglers to surrender. Among the words delivered by the megaphone was the concern that some of the prisoners might have managed to escape. There was the call for a survey and headcount, which just meant the guards would circle their way around the wall and find Obscura’s little group, eventually.

“Come on…” Obscura mumbled. Her eyes were set on Building A. Cole, Seth and Nico should be emerging there any second now. Should have been. Any moment, now. From there it would be a clear run for the exit. The problem was that, as she peeked around the corner, she could see the lights of the guards straying ever closer to their position. Some went around the walls, while others moved along ground level. This was the final stretch of the mission, and it still felt like a close call.

“Can we get a move on? Come on. I don’t want to be here anymore,” Fulminant coughed as the acidic smell of the gas reached them.

“Don’t talk,” Stones scoffed, covering his nose and mouth. Obscura was just glad that her suit’s mouthpiece had some filtering qualities.

“I just don’t think those guys are *cough* coming.” Fulminant wheezed again before resolving to cover his mouth.

“We should still wait,” Obscura said.

“I’m not about to get captured again waiting for others *cough cough *”

“You’ll get us caught if you keep on coughing. Be quiet and stay put,” Obscura growled.

“Fine… As her ladyship wi- *cough* wishes,” he said with forcefully restrained words.

And before she could say anything about it, her eyes picked up on the outline of three people skulking their way from around Building A. Seth was in an even worse state than she remembered, now needing the help of both Nico and Cole to move around.

Her teammate spotted her back and made a couple of quick signs, spurring her to get a move on, and without even waiting for her answer, did so himself, picking up the pace and making the run across the yard. Even with the handicap of carrying an injured person, they would’ve reached the spot in under a minute.

“Go go go!” Obscura ordered Stones and Fulminant.

Her group sprinted from cover, following her lead. Such a large group of people was almost impossible to miss for the guards who were already on the lookout for stragglers.

“Hey! Stop right there!” they ordered, to which Obscura countered by throwing a couple of black smoke grenades to the space between.

“To the wall!” Obscura called out to Seth and Nico just as they reached the exit spot. “Stand by the wall. Put your hands on it!”

“Is the big plan to get us fucking gunned down!?” Fulminant asked incredulously as he saw the other team heed the words without asking.

“Just do it!” Obscura snarled as Stones forced him to heed the order. “And stand as close to each other as you can!”

The group did so. Everyone closed ranks, with Cole standing at the center, leaving a gap open for Obscura herself.

Just as she approached, a loud boom echoed behind. A special grenade had gone off behind her. She felt slightly shaken by the shockwave, but very disoriented by the feeling of the high powered lights messing up with her aura and skin. It was like hitting an exposed nerve, leaving her jittery, mere steps away from the men. Creating a portal of that size and stability under duress was a herculean task that couldn’t be done under duress and exposure…

“What the hell is that?!” one of the guards yelled, taken aback by her appearance.

And she capitalized on it as much as she could. Reaching around her back for a hidden ring cord concealed under her belt, she let rip. With a wild pull, she felt the wild pops on her suit as the metallic plates shot upwards and returned to the ground in a triangular spread. Each head embedded itself in the wall or ground. They dragged with them a very dense piece of fabric that was designed to block just enough light to count.

Lifeward had ordered and installed the emergency ‘parachute’ on Raffina’s suit for just such an occasion, and she had never been more thankful for her mentor’s foresight.

Under its occluding cover, she lost no time and thrust her hands against the concrete wall to focus her powers into creating the largest portal to the shadowlands she could muster before them. She felt herself and the other members of the operation stumble and fall through, before any shot could hit them.

Obscura’s abilities allowed her to phase through what could be explained as a sort of membrane between two dimensions. The more distance she had to phase through, the more time she spent in this space of pitch darkness through which she could float. It could be disorienting, especially when the portal they came through was hidden in the dark by thick fabric, and the exit was also cloaked in the natural dark from the outside world, but Obscura’s eyes and sixth sense spread out and forward to reassure her.

Wasting no time, she was quick to grab the hands of the people around her. The exit appeared to draw them forward, like it had a strange gravity of its own.

All six of them emerged from the other side, stumbling as the exit was about a foot above the ground and touching down upon the marsh grass.

“Whew! What was that!?” Stones sounded more thrilled than startled.

“Are you okay, Seth?” Nico asked.

“I’m fine…” Seth answered. “That… that was truly something.”

“I know.” Obscura hit a small release attachment on her back to release the locks at the other end of the wire. This allowed her, with Cole’s help, to pull the fabric through the portal she’d created. No evidence was to be left behind. And so, the thing was spat out of the gash of darkness, letting it close in the interim.

“We’re outside… We’re outside!” Fulminant laughed. “I escaped your prison as I promised!”

“Shut up! We’re not safe yet!” Stones snarled. “Where do we go? Flashlight?”

“I have one. One second.” Cole bundled the fabric into Obscura’s hands after he finished severing the tethering cable. Then he turned on a small flashlight he had on his person. It was just enough to reveal the path to cross: a small trek through shallow waters. Near the edge of the shore, they could see another figure waving their way, holding out a low light flashlight that would fortunately not be seen above the trees. “That’s Lifeward.” Cole explained to the ones that had no communication pieces.

“And the truck behind her is our escape ticket?” Fulminant said, eagerly taking a couple of steps forward.

“Correct. Obscura? Got any more smoke pellets?” Cole nodded as she handed him some of the last smoke pellets she had on her person. Then he tossed them up the wall where they exploded, creating a dense cover that lingered along the top. “That should slow any pursuit, but we need to hurry along.”

“Then we better get a move on!,” Fulminant had one foot squelching into the muddy water, only to stop as he spotted some movement in the water. Something rose up to strike with a loud hiss, only to be driven down as Cole’s hand thrust it down deep into the water until its maw was sunk under the silt.

It was only a little one. Cole made a silent prayer that the big ones took the hint from the weather that night and kept to deeper waters than they were about to cross. Once he let go, the animal immediately turned tail and swam away. “There are alligators in these waters.”

“Of course there are.” Stones snorted as they all moved to the edge. Any of them still preferred to test their luck with the animals rather than with the prison on the hunt.

“In formation. Stones takes point, Seth and Nico go at the center, Fulminant takes the left flank, Obscura takes the right. I’ll take rear with the light shining ahead… “ The team didn’t really wait for Cole to finish, taking steps into the shallow waters while loosely following the formation instruction. As he covered their retreat, every now and then he looked back to make sure the black smoke was still there. Several strides in, one could see lights shine down their way, only to miss them below the cover of trees and darkness.

“Be on your guard,” Cole warned. His light drifted left over to the shadowy waters before settling back on Fulminant. “Alligators aren’t particularly aggressive, all things considered, but they are ambush predators. We hurry on through and don’t give them the time to consider a late night snack.”

“Can’t believe this.” Stones waded through, relieved as Lifeward shone a light to guide the path.

Obscura groaned. “Ugh… the ‘don’t leave things behind’ rule suuuucks.” The crumpled parachute was under one arm, while the other one held a charge of dark energy in preparation.

“Well, it’s better to avoid littering.” Stones said, earning himself a scoff from the girl.

“Fulminant. At your ten.” Another small one, young and dumb and not yet wary of being near the prison with its firearms.

“My ten? I see it,” Fulminant said quickly, taking a step forward to drive a fist down into the animal’s head. The thing thrashed and struggled as it had its head was pulled from the water. The man proved his exemplar physique was still in fine form as his fist pummeled the maw, throat and belly before hurling it back into the waters upside down. It fled while struggling to breathe.

“I see another.” Stones hesitated to strike, only for Obscura to fire a black bolt at the animal. Scared by the strange energy that struck it, it just ‘noped’ out of the way.

No other gators were in evidence, but Cole couldn’t trust that to be true. “Hurry it up, people.”

<I have the spell for Seth ready.> Lifeward’s voice rang through their earpieces as they were half way through wading at thigh-high waters.

“Nico, make sure Seth’s injury doesn’t touch the water.”

“Alright,” Nico answered.

“What sort of supervillain codename is Seth?” Fulminant scoffed. “Were we waiting for a normie all this time?”

“Does it matter? A job is a job.” Cole said. “All you three have the same value.”

“Me? The same value as those two?” Fulminant snickered.

The group made it to the shore, where the water was low enough to get them to up the pace and no alligator was in sight, thanks to Lifeward’s oversight.

“We made it!” Fulminant celebrated running over to touch dry land.

Lifeward was quick to move to Seth. Her glowing hand reached over to prod around the point of injury, stabilizing the man’s condition before applying another spell which spread in and around his body before fading. Suddenly, the old man found himself no longer struggling to walk. “This should keep you together for a couple of hours until we can get you proper treatment,” she told him.

“Thank you…” Seth said with relief, finding that, for the time being, his limp wasn’t the worst of his problems.

“Everyone! Quickly, to the truck!” Cole opened the back doors of their escape vehicle.

Fulminant was among the first, climbing up into the back of the truck. “I’d hoped the Syndicate would spare something more glamorous to get me out.”

“You and Stones still have the prison collars around your necks. The prison will be on the lookout for you,” Seth admonished as Nico helped him up into the truck.

“The truck has frequency jammers that should slow them down. Just enough to throw them off track,” Cole added.

“Obscura, you’re in the shotgun seat,” Lifeward said after Obscura threw the bundled ‘parachute’ in.

“Really?” She sighed with relief. “Thank you.”

Everyone quickly boarded the vehicle, closing the doors and driving off down the road.

“Ah, finally a cushion.” Obscura sighed as she allowed herself to sink into the truck’s seat. The dark pigmentation receded from her body, as did the tail. It was certainly much easier to sit down without having the extra limb.

Lifeward’s focus was on driving the truck down the road with the low lights on. Her eyes scanned the night for any potential dangers to be had. Fortunately, at this time, there was no one passing by, and even if there were, Obscura’s night vision would help spot them before the getaway car got spotted. Still, despite her reservations for this last stretch of the mission, the senior agent still said, “You did well, Obscura.”

There was a warmth within the girl’s heart upon hearing those words. “I did, didn’t I?” Obscura said excitedly, pulling the mask from her mouth. “I infiltrated a men’s prison for a day, took down so many guards and prisoners, and managed to get everyone out.”

“I would love to hear everything for the report,” Lifeward smiled.

“Nothing better than a mission completed perfectly, right? You always have these, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do,” her voice dried out for a moment. “But not everything always goes perfectly. You should know that.”

“All three targets are here and no one got left behind, think that’s a success, right?” Obscura said, yet her excitement died out when Lifeward held no answer. ‘Right,’ she reminded herself. ‘This is professional Lifeward.’

After a moment of silent driving, Lifeward sighed. “I’m sorry, Raffi, I should be happier about this. A student of mine has finally completed a major assignment on her own. Proving herself as she wanted. The fact that you’re happy should be enough reason for me to drop the stern facade between us, but… I’m just not happy about the mission overall. And I can’t do anything but job as requested.”

“Ah…” Obscura said. “I… I think I understand…” Her mentor could not be too happy about breaking out criminals, and having to do so instead of looking after Sophie. “Let’s get these packages delivered so we can all go home.”

That got Lifeward to smile a little. “Yes, let's.”

Sunday, January 30th - 8:33pm
Back of the truck

The truck drove on through the bumpy unkept road with the cargo hold feeling the expected sway and rumble, half of the current cargo awaited the sudden pull of inertia that would signal the start of a chase. Fortunately, that moment never came. And yet, despite the concerns of the more calculating or cautious ones, there was a sense of relief in knowing that the Syndicate had orchestrated the rescue. Enough to get them to talk.

“Seth, right?” Stones said, addressing the old man that sat before him. “How are you doing?”

“It’s peculiar… But I’m not in pain, at least,” Seth said, prodding the bandages which Cole had wrapped around him the moment the truck set off.

“It’s good to hear that,” Stones smiled. He let out a sigh of relief, resting his head against the rumbling wall of the vehicle. “Can’t believe that my boss had the Syndicate come after me.”

“Your boss must really care about you,” Seth said, his fingers caressing the locket around his neck.

“Well, he left me in prison for about three months… But I understand. We’re a low resource business, unfortunately.”

“It’s a shame. Eco-terrorism shouldn’t even be considered a crime,” Seth said.

“Damn straight,” Stones snorted before looking at the side reflexively. “I do hope he’s doing fine. He must be, otherwise, not even sure how he even funded this rescue.”

“It must be quite a sum, considering what they just went through to get us out,” Fulminant said in a jovial tone, still high from the moment of respite after the escape. “That just makes us all special… Well, some of us,” he said looking down at Nico who’d been sitting down some distance away from Seth’s side.

“Hey. Don’t knock anyone down. Kid did more than you did for the plan,” Stones defended.

That got a small smile on Nico’s face, although with the low light around it went unnoticed. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mean to put anyone down.” Fulminant argued. “I’m just pointing out that you, me and the old man were headhunted and rescued. He’s just an inmate that had the guts to jump onto the opportunity. I can respect that. I wouldn’t be who I am now if I hadn’t driven a knife into the power socket to discover the extent of my powers.”

“I honestly would’ve preferred to escape with him rather than with any of the gang members I ran with,” Stones scoffed. “Those were quite a rowdy bunch.”

“Better than the fucking Nazis. Those guys thought they were at the same level as me,” Fulminant mused. That got a couple of chuckles from the two, especially as they felt they could put everything behind them. Without saying much else, he scooted over to the door, mindful to hold onto the support ropes on the inner wall of the vehicle. “Say… Cole, right?” he asked the Syndicate enforcer acting as a sentry at the back of the transport. “Do you know who commissioned my rescue? Because I’d like to know…” His voice went low enough to get lost within the rumble and sway of the car.

“Say…” Stones told Seth as a quasi silence settled between them as the truck rolled onto a bumpy path, they’d left the main road. “I’ve been meaning to ask… but have we met?”

“What makes you think that?” Seth asked.

“Well. You did mention I’m an eco-terrorist,” Stones noted. “Don’t think I mentioned it to you or anyone at the prison… and I don’t think I’m famous enough to make it to the news.”

“Could’ve heard it from someplace else,” Seth answered, not exactly denying it. Just been uninterestedly oblivious.

“Plus there’s something about you that feels familiar in some way,” Stones added leaning back. “You are a villain, right?”

“I was. I’m technically retired.”

“Hm… have you worked with many others?”

“I wasn’t in the habit of working with others.”

“But you did, didn’t you?”

“When the interests aligned.”

At that moment, Stones’ eyes widened as he realized it. “Are you the Techno Revenant?”

Seth sighed. “I really hated that name.”

“I knew it! No wonder I was getting these flashes,” Stones laughed. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did you think I was going to be disappointed?”

“Revealing my name would’ve involved me in more trouble in prison. Without my armor, I’m just a normal old man. Best to keep myself out of trouble by keeping it to myself.” Seth said, his usually dry tone seemed to relax for a moment. “Besides, as I said, I’m retired.”

“So, you expected to rot in jail?”

“Somewhat? I honestly didn’t have anything prepared. Once I accomplished my objective, there didn’t seem to be anything worth the effort…”

“So you got your revenge?”

“I did,” Seth answered coldly. “I didn’t kill him… but I almost did. In the end, I settled for taking everything he valued away from him. Reputation, name, wealth… Letting him live on without his power.”

“Well, good to hear,” Stones said. “Oh! How’s my boss? Did he get the batteries?”

“He did. I even gave them an extra one.” Seth thought for a moment. “I recall talking to him a couple of days before I was captured, he was asking for some technical questions about the procured batteries. Said things were marching along… though he still wished they had the capital to get you out.”

“Oh, good ol Barret. I hope I didn’t cost him much…” Stones said, shaking his head. “So, going back into the prison to get something… with a bad leg? I can’t believe you did something that ballsy in the middle of a riot.”

“Nothing I can say other than that there are some things I couldn’t leave behind,” Seth said, clasping the locket.

“Heh,” Stones shook his head with a smile about him. ”And, glad to hear that you're out of the game. What will come next–”

Everyone quieted down as they felt the change of inertia on the truck as it slowed down and made a sharp turn before coming down to a full stop.

“Alright,” Cole announced as he opened the back of the truck and leapt out. “We’ve made it to the safehouse. Everyone disembark, and fast. We don’t have much time to waste!”

Sunday, January 30th - 9:03pm
Syndicate Operation shack

“Stay still, “Lifeward instructed. “I don’t want to cut you.”

“Alright… alright.” Fulminant’s voice was uneasy as the Syndicate’s operative guided the laser cutter down the hard plastic-like surface of the collar, letting out sparks that stung when in contact with the skin of his neck. “Why couldn’t I be the first one?” he grumbled,

“First come, first serve,” Stones joked, his hands rubbing the skin of his now-free neck.

“Really? Because I recall the old man being the one to get treated first.” Fulminant wanted to move his head to gesture at the old man sitting on the side. Beneath a basic change of clothes, bandages were wrapped tightly around his torso.

“Shit… Shouldn’t have stopped to take in the fresh air…” Fulminant mumbled. “Can’t you just break them, honey?”

“Would prefer not to… Now stay still, just a little longer and…there.”

The laser cutter turned off and a grin appeared on Fulminant’s face as the collar popped open at the hinges, letting his skin feel the cold breeze of the safehouse.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! I’m free! Free of the Stonewall! I’m breaking records all around.” Fulminant laughed as he stretched and cracked his neck. His eyes drifted around the safehouse the Syndicate had used as a base of operations. There wasn’t really much to it. It was an abandoned building with nothing more than a couple of old tables collecting dust. The equipment they’d brought in stood out amidst the neglected furniture. There was no real light beyond the simple gas lanterns that illuminated the corners of the room. “You don’t happen to have anything with electricity, right? I want to get my powers back on.”

“Unfortunately, given that we’re on our way out, I had already packed them,” Lifeward told him. “But once we leave we can give you a much-needed charge.”

“Good, then let's,” Fulminant said.

“Maybe it would be best to move. I don’t doubt the guards are still after us,” Seth noted.

“It’s alright; we’re handling that,” Lifeward said as Cole emerged from the side room, now fully dressed in his usual operative outfit. She offered him the cracked collars. “Here you go. The tracking signal should be visible once you leave the jammer signal zone of effect.”

“So I’ll just give them the runaround and circle back?” Cole said.

“Two hours should be more than enough to vacate the place,” Lifeward told him.

“Two hours? Easy.” Cole picked the two collars and made his way out, with casual nods to the rescued inmates and a fist bump with Stones, wishing him luck with his family.

They heard the sound of a motorcycle revving before the door closed and set an odd silence over everything.

“Great.” Fulminant let out a soft groan as his hand clutched a thick battery he’d procured from the flashlight Cole had been using. Now that the nullifying collar was off, he could feel the energy surge through… but it wasn’t enough. He tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. “Now that everyone has been treated, can we get going?”

“In a moment. There is one last thing I need to check. A verification of identities and confirmation of rescue. Just to make sure each one of you is in optimal condition.” Lifeward set a camera scanner on a tripod, pointing at the open space of the safehouse.

Near it, at the back, some shuffling could be heard as Obscura made herself busy pulling the pieces of the command center apart and stashing them into the proper cases for the cleanup team to pick up. Some of those present were curious about the girl now that, under the light, she’d allowed the inhuman aspect to fade away.

“Obscura,” Lifeward said, looking over to the side. “Can you set up the table with some snacks and drinks? Everyone must be starving.”

“I know I am,” Obscura mused. She left what she was doing to pick up the lunch box from the side.

“Well, we’re supposedly out of danger,” Seth noted, though there was an air of suspicion about the older man’s words.

“I suppose I can put up with it,” Fulminant said, throwing the drained battery over to an unkept corner of the room. He let some of the energy sizzle on his fingers with an air of victory. Feeling bold, he pried another battery from a nearby spare flashlight and started leeching off of it. “We’ve already made it out. Why not enjoy the celebration? So, what do you need?”

Lifeward adjusted the domino masked on her before speaking up. “Just to make a recording confirmation of your extraction. Verify your identities and rescue. That’s all. After that, we’ll take you to headquarters from which arrangements will be made to get you wherever you need.”

“Great!” Fulminant said.

“Does the Syndicate still offer identity forgery?” Seth asked.

“Yeah, we do,” Lifeward said. “With all the added steps to make them as real as they could get.”

“Good. Because I was in need of a fresh start.” He turned around to the younger man. “How about you, Nico?”

“Me?” he asked.

“I know you’ve had a rough time while in prison… but you always carried yourself with enough kindness to greet and talk to me. Probably made my stay much more manageable,” Seth said. “You’ve even saved me a bunch of times by now. A new identity and a new start is the least I can offer.”

“I-I don’t know what to say?” Nico stammered. “Yeah! Yeah, I would like a new identity.” Quite unsure what to do himself with the surprise news, he just got up to walk.

“I already have a place in mind to go to and a reporter friend to visit,” Fulminant said.

“I just want to get back home. Need to explain my three months of absence to my family.” Stones said, letting out a bit more of his personal life that was expected. Though no one minded.

“Believe me, I too wish to get this over with and get back with my loved ones,” Lifeward’s words were mostly addressed to herself

“Pst, Nico,” Obscura whispered to the young ex-inmate from the side, calling his attention. “Help me out here.” Though it was clear she was just trying to pull him away.

The young man didn’t say much. He was still having some trouble believing this was all real. There was the fear that he would close his eyes and find himself staring at the concrete ceiling of the prison. And yet with every step taken, every time he took a breath and felt the wood under his feet, he was reassured that this was real. He didn’t even realize he was helping Obscura take bags of chips, wrapped sandwiches and bottles of water on the table until they were done. Then he snapped out of his daze, took a second look, and helped himself to some sour cream and onion.The taste was a kick to his tastebuds, in the best way.

“Well, well, well,” Obscura mused. “Lucky you. Managed to hitch a ride out of prison.”

“I almost didn’t make it,” Nico answered. “I still can’t believe it. I’ll be free with a new start. Guess I can only thank the monster under the bed for that.”

“And don’t you dare forget it… Just be careful you don’t end up back in the prison,” Obscura joked. She looked over to where Lifeward talked with each of the rescued inmates. Something about the promise of secrecy about the operations and the people involved.

“What are these?” Nico chimed in, pointing to where piles of cartridges rested on the table. “They look like the ones you gave Seth.”

“Ah. Those are modular component pieces. Put them together in different ways and they become different things.”

“That’s a good number of them…”

“Yeah. I couldn’t take more than the ones I gave Seth,” Obscura said.

He would have chatted with her more, but their conversation was cut short when Lifeward called out for her. “Obscura?”

“Yes?”

“Would you mind checking outside? Make sure we left nothing in the truck.”

“On it” Obscura quickly turned around to exit the safehouse.

Sunday, January 30th - 9:45pm
Syndicate Operation shack- outside

“Ah, there you are,” Raffina peeked her head out from the back of the truck to spot Caroline as her mentor strutted out of the seemingly abandoned compound. She hopped out and carefully closed the door behind her. “Found nothing left behind. Neither on the passenger’s seat nor back here.”

“That’s fortunate,” the operation leader said.

“So… when are we departing?” Raffina asked, dangling off the edge. Her body was clothed in the black velvet from her shadowy form.

“In a moment.” Caroline looked down at her phone. “I sent the request for the portal system, so they must be preparing things.”

“They’re taking their own sweet time about it. Normally they have it on just like that,” Raffina said.

Caroline brought herself to smile. “So… how did you find your first in the field assignment?”

“It was certainly something.” she said, leaping off the back with a graceful flip. “Sneaking my way around a prison was fun… but the hours I had to spend hiding in a supply closet were so boring, especially when I had to keep my phone off the grid.”

“I usually just take some e-books with me to read in the moments of waiting,” Caroline said. “If you have good headphones, some people keep TV episodes stored in their phones.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Think this might’ve been my longest adventure ever. Normally, I just spend a couple of hours out. Find something I like, get in and get out minutes later.” Raffina looked down at her hand as the velvet skin faded. “I mean, I mostly do that because I'm not exactly sure if my parents want me taking unnecessary risks… even though they know I’ve taken up several odd hobbies.”

“Your parents are particular,” Caroline agreed, resting her back against the truck. “I’ve been giving them updates of your status during the mission, just in case they worry.”

“Great, thanks. Mom and Dad would be thrilled.” Raffina groaned. “Is it okay to leave those four alone in the safehouse with the Syndicate equipment lying around?”

“Doubtful they will try anything, but I left the camera recording.” Caroline took a deep breath and paused to take in the nature around them, despite the darkness around. “Besides, we’re allowed to take our time now that things have fallen into place, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, I know the feeling. It’s kinda like when we took down those guys in Silent Mountain. We had the place to ourselves.”

“Have you talked to your friends recently?”

“I… I didn’t ask for their phone numbers… Well, except for Leslie. We talk every now and then… but it’s the ‘friends from other school’ problem.”

“Much easier now than it was years ago,” Lifeward said. “And only Leslie?”

“So far yeah. I didn’t ask for the other one’s number.”

“You do know that Vic is probably staying with us for the school breaks, right?”

“I know. I know… To be fair, I thought he was going to be kicked from the Syndicate program and I wouldn’t be seeing him again. The same with Josh. They were just competition to me.”

Caroline thought for a moment and shook her head. “I would’ve suggested a more candid approach, but I’m quite sure a Syndicate training mission wasn’t the ideal place to make new friends.”

“Not at all,” Raffina concurred.

“And how are things at school?”

“Same old, same old,” Raffina said dismissively. “I just interact with my friends…”

“But you keep them at arms length?”

“Well, they’re normal. If I pulled out my tail in front of them… I know it would freak them out. Best to just play casual and maintain my cover.”

‘She sees things in a professional way, trying to keep things impersonal,’ Caroline noted, half-wishing to delve on those thoughts. But the middle of the woods after a prison escape wasn’t exactly the best of options for it. Plus, both of them were exhausted. “Alright… think it’s about time we head home.”

“Really? Great!” Raffina said, stretching. “I’m looking forward to a good shower and lying on my bed.”

“Same… by the time we get back, I may be able to spend some time with Sophie. Laureate better not bother me with missions like this again.” Caroline tapped into her phone to request the cleanup teams and check on the portal status.

“I don’t know. We were quite successful, right? They may ask for another,” Raffina half teased.

Caroline’s hand brushed the doorframe, coaxing the enchanted markings of the silence spell to reveal themselves. And with a particular gesture and infusion of energy, she relieved them of their duty, letting them fade away and disappear like an ember touching a dry piece of paper. “Before we go in. I’ll have to ask you to stay behind me and let me do the talking. Understand?”

Raffina cocked her head, confused, at the rather sudden request, but nodded. “Okay. I will. Is there like some special report about to happen…” As they stepped back into the operation center, the words left her.

The place had suddenly been thrown into disarray, with the table where the snacks had been placed was now left broken in half, and amongst those remains was the obscured sight of a figure who lay there with blood staining the jumpsuit’s leg and stomach. From where she stood, Raffina didn’t get a good look at the face, which sort of felt like a mercy.

It didn’t take her long to realize who she was looking at by process of elimination.

Standing by the feet of the corpse stood Stones, with a grim look about him. The stone pieces fell off his hands and faded away as they de-manifested.

Seth was a couple of steps away, nursing his arm while the other held a weapon composed of some of the modular pieces that had been left on the table.

And far away from it all, in the corner, stood a shocked Nico, who must have seen the entirety of the fight.

That only meant that the casualty was none other than Fulminant. The more she looked at the corpse the more it was apparent. And yet Raffina was hesitant to take a step forward to look at the dead man’s face. Fortunately, Caroline stepped in to cover the sight as she inspected the remains.

And she heard nothing of it!

“W-What…” Raffina stammered, looking at each of the men present, lingering on the shocked face of Nico before demanding an answer. “What happened?! Why is he…”

“Obscura,” Lifeward said, clearing her throat to remind her of the instructions from just a minute ago. To put it nicely, she had to be quiet and let her mentor do the talking. Although that hardly took away from the shock of the situation.

When Obscura closed her mouth, Lifeward took it as a sign to continue. Directing her gaze towards Seth, she asked, “What happened?”

“What needed to be done,” Seth said, not even bothering to meet her gaze. His hand rested on the gun he held and, with a couple of twists, the thing came apart, with the barrel and grip split into pieces which fell on the other standing table. “I’m sorry if this will cause you trouble.”

Lifeward moved past them, over to where the camera had been left recording. “It might… As unfortunate as it might be.” She twisted and took the thing and the tripod apart. “However, I had already closed the job. That just makes this an unfortunate incident outside of my control.” She typed a message into her own phone and announced. “Alright, I’ll have the cleaners deal with this. For the time being, please line up to the side. And don’t cause any more trouble.”

Neither Stones nor Seth said a thing. No objections, they just moved over, away from the body. Lifeward moved on with the preparations, marking the wall where the portal service would open a rift.

“What? But… What about my perfect job?” Obscura tried to urge herself into asking, but she respected Lifeward enough to let the lady do her thing.

Still, there were plenty of questions. Why was Fulminant dead? Why was Lifeward under-reacting?! What actually happened? Her eyes went over to Nico who was still on the side, looking conflicted.

“Nico. What happened here?” she whispered.

“I… I… well,” he hesitated before saying with a bit more resolve. “Seth… they had their reasons…”

A few minutes later, the portal opened on the marked surface and members of the cleaning service stepped in to pack up the equipment, clean up the scene and, now, clean up the body as well. The sense of unease on both younger members of the group lingered, even after the black tarp was draped over Fulminant’s remains. As the cleaners worked, the operative team and the remaining targets were invited through the spatial gate, emerging at one of the designated points within Portland, where the other members of the staff were waiting.

Stones was provided a fresh change of clothes and an address to a small motel where he could stay the night. Over the next few days, arrangements would be made to send him back to Florida, where his boss was looking forward to seeing him.

Seth was taken to a clinic to verify his physical condition, at Lifeward’s behest (just to make sure she hadn’t rushed through the process). He was also given the contact information of an identity forger who would craft the new identities. Fortunately, having successfully managed to recover the microchip, which contained data for the account where the stolen money lay hidden, he would be set for a good life in retirement.

Nico tagged along with the older man. While still shook from what he witnessed, he was sympathetic enough with the man to want to stay by his side. Lifeward appeared confident that the new life crafted would have them together in a sort of father/son or patient/caretaker arrangement.

As their charges were handed over, Lifeward and Obscura were relieved from duties.

“Are you alright, Raffina?” Caroline asked once they were alone in the building and back into their civilian clothes..

“I’m…” She hesitated, “I just can’t believe that happened. I thought we’d succeeded. I did everything perfectly.”

“You did, Raffina. You did an amazing job.” Caroline put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “This wasn’t your fault. Do you understand?”

“I…” Raffina began with heavy hesitation.

“You’re a good girl. I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”

“It was exciting though, despite how it ended.” She was starting to break out of the surprise and the slump.

“You did great. You accomplished what was asked of you perfectly.” Caroline looked down at the time on her phone. “I’m sorry, Raffina. But it’s half past seven and I do wish to spend some time with Sophie.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. No problem,” Raffina said dismissively.

“I could drive you home,” Caroline offered.

“No… it’s okay. I can order a cab. I’ll talk to you later?”

“Sure,” Caroline answered as she departed back for her car.

Meanwhile, back in Georgia, the clean-up crew had made sure to scrub the scene of any trace of Syndicate presence and set up things for the finale. By the time Cole made it back to the place, all he had to do was strike a match and leave.

The prison’s reinforcements would eventually track down the collars’ signals to the burned-down building. Fulminant’s charred remains would be found, as would some remaining prison uniforms the next day, deeper within, leading the authorities to assume that the remaining escapees were dead as well.

Monday, January 31st - 3:12pm
Syndicate offices - Portland Oregon

“… are you going to do this now? You were waiting for us to be alone, weren’t you?” Fulminant stood before Seth as the old man pointed the assembled gun his way.

“You can’t be allowed to roam free,” Seth declared as the gun lit up with energy.

“What about you?” Fulminant asked Stones, unconcerned.

The mutant henchman said nothing, instead standing back with a disapproving look on his face–although who he was looking at, one couldn’t tell.

“Nothing… huh?” So Fulminant turned his attention back on Seth. “What are you going to do, then? Either you pull the trigger or I attack you and force you to do it? Because, you know, those things apparently work on energy, and I feed off it. That would give me just the kick I wanted.”

“Oh I know. That’s why this is a railgun.” After a brief charging sound, a loud snap rang through the cabin. It was quite dissimilar to the bang of a gun… but not that different, as the results were immediate. A splatter was shot through the back of Fulminant’s torso, forcing a scream out from the man’s mouth.

“Why you…” Fulminant snarled. His body charged with what little he had in his person, just to get himself up and moving, trying to deliver an unrestrained killing punch on Seth. A second shot was fired, then dodged. But that was when Stones entered the fray, his hand coated with manifested rocks to absorb the shock. A backhanded strike forced the man back, just as another pull of the trigger caused blood to splatter on his thigh.

And then, the recording stopped.

“What happened? Lifeward, how could this happen?” Director Cormoran demanded.

“I agree,” Laureate said, tapping the tablet in his arms to let the scene carry on with the sound muted. “We gave you a job, and that was to deliver Fulminant to our doorstep at the behest of a client–”

“And that’s exactly what I did,” Lifeward said, tapping into her master tablet to display the get-out-of-jail order. “The request was to get Fulminant out of jail within the week. The job was completed within the time limit. What came after was unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate? Unfortunate?!” Laureate scoffed. When he realized neither Lifeward nor the director were playing along, his mocks lost all their strength. “Ahem. Fulminant is dead. He was your responsibility! This is your responsibility.”

“It is not,” Lifeward said. With a swipe, another window revealed the usual rules and sections of the standard contract that came with any ROSE request. “Are you familiar with the ‘chaos agent’ clause?”

Laureate frowned. “Of course I am. But you can’t cling to the ‘no guarantees’ part when you orchestrated the murder.”

“I did not orchestrate a murder. If you plan to accuse me of such a thing, I hope you have stronger reasoning than that.”

“We asked you for the man and now he’s dead,” Laureate stated.

“Unfortunate,” Lifeward repeated.

“You are nothing but a viper–”

“Laureate!” the director interrupted before gesturing at the contract lines on the holographic display. “What clauses were you going to refer to?”

“This one.” Lifeward pointed at the display. “‘The client shall not hold the Syndicate accountable over any action incurred by third-party provisory operatives, as long as the operatives have mitigated the risks on the matter.”

“As long as the risks had been mitigated,” Laureate pointed out. “They clearly were not.”

“Do you want me to treat grown men like toddlers? Toddlers that are supposed to be the organization’s clients as of now? I am not sure who should find that more insulting,” Lifeward scoffed. “This rule was made because we sometimes deal with contacts or need to work with local villains. And, sometimes, they’re willing to throw a wrench in the plans if things grow too dangerous or they have ulterior motives.”

“And what am I supposed to tell the criminal that was looking for the teamup.” Laureate said in a sarcastic tone. His eyes had been focused on his own tablet for a while. “He deserves a retribution of sorts. Maybe give them the people that perpetrated the deed.”

“Strange, I wasn’t aware we were willing to sell their own clients now,” Lifeward retorted.

“We can’t do that, Laureate. The perpetrators are our clients as well,” the director conceded as he got up from his desk, appearing ready to call it a day for now. “It is unfortunate what happened, but there is nothing that can be done.”

“Then what am I supposed to tell them?”

“They signed the clause, didn’t they? But I suppose that it is fair if we’re starting to admit concessions. You can return their GOJA benefit and give them an apology basket…” Lifeward said.

“We’re not making concessions…” Though, judging by the shifty look, Laureate did appear to consider her suggestion–not that the man would admit it. Rather than mull over it longer, he instead took a moment to look down at the tablet and at the holographic display before casting his gaze at Lifeward. “Was this part of your plan? Did you expect this to happen?”

“Are you accusing me of something?”

Laureate’s head wanted to turn red before he calmed himself down. “I just found it odd. That’s all, that you suddenly decided to go ahead with this operation…”

“Suddenly? It was a job you foisted on me.”

“… and then tacked more people onto it… people off the original target.”

“I tacked on those two other contracts because they happened to be there. If you had any other stipulations you wanted added, you could’ve told me when we agreed,” Lifeward said.

“Don’t act like this isn’t your attempt to sanitize the operations. Botching a job for the sake of killing someone that appears problematic?” Laureate frowned. “Tacking in an old villain and an eco-terrorist that would end up offing the mass murderer. Certainly seems suspicious to me.”

“Many things can seem a way. It’s not the same as if they are,” Lifeward said, holding back her taunts as she checked the time. “If you’re trying to imply what I think you’re trying to imply, you can either prove it it now or put the matter to rest… but I warn you that you can put Seth and Stones to the mental polygraph test and audit the logs I recorded during the operation and you won’t find any form of plotting.”

“Why would you record the logs?”

“Because I knew that you suspected I would try something.”

“You think I don’t notice it, don’t you?” Laureate’s fist closed, letting Lifeward see a glint of the gem around his wrist. It forced her to be wary… for the moment.

“That’s enough, Laureate,” Director Cormoran interjected. “Lifeward has done her job as requested. All of this seems to point towards bad blood among the people rescued. You’ll have to inform that client of yours his request has been rejected… or that, maybe, he shouldn’t have picked someone so easy to detest.”

“This is a ploy. Plain and simple,” Laureate noted but his words stopped there. He couldn’t prove them.

“If that is all, I will take my leave now,” Lifeward excused herself, politely bowing. “I shall send my proposal in the next couple of days and save my post-mission time off for later this week.”

“Noted. Stay safe, Lifeward.” the director said, concurring with Lifeward’s leave as he too prepared to do the same.

Laureate didn’t give her an answer, merely looking away in frustration as his hand caressed the power gem attached to his wrist.

“She has to be doing this on purpose. She has to be,” Laureate grumbled once the door closed behind her.

“You’re quick to defer to her background as a former heroine,” the director scoffed.

“Oh, please! Don’t tell me you buy her ‘I had no idea’ story. She must’ve set it in motion.”

“If she’s lying about that, it just means she has a better head on her shoulders than you gave her credit for. Especially if you don’t find any evidence of it.”

“But why don’t y–”

“Why don’t I care? It’s because she’s one of the senior operatives, and she provides the better results,” the director said with the same animosity as a teacher would to encourage a student, but Laureate didn’t seem to take it that way. He hid it well enough, though. “You found someone willing to pay money for this Fulminant fellow and make the request. And she managed to get two more clients to tag along. The end result today is twice the earnings of your original offer, even with the bonus provided. It may not be twice the income, but if you have two foxes and a chicken, it’s natural that by the end of the delivery all you have are two foxes.”

“Ugh… I’ll be in my office.” was all Laureate managed to contain before excusing himself.

Director Cormoran shook his head. “Why can’t it just be a business,” he lamented. Though admittedly, It was interesting to see them butt heads and get better results.

A sigh escaped out of Lifeward’s lips as the elevator’s doors closed, hiding her from the world. A moment of respite in her day’s work. Relief that the ordeal was over. Her only regret was that she wished she could have been out in the field to help her teammates.

In the end, it had all gone as she’d hoped, the moment she read the target profiles. With a flick across the screen of the master tablet, she let the video play out one last time before she deleted it from her files.

Sunday, January 30th - 9:30pm
Syndicate Operation shack- inside

“First, we have Seth Millar, formerly known as the Techno Revenant," Lifeward said, reading from her notes on a secondary phone. “A villain who has operated as a Syndicate affiliate and client for the past eight years. Crimes include bank heists, grand theft, destruction of public property and more recently kidnapping and torture of members of Trireme Security… though for various legal purposes, he has been accused as an accomplice.”

“No one really believed I was the ‘real’ Techno Revenant,” Seth admitted, bringing himself to chuckle as he rested his body against the wall.

“I misjudged you, old man,” Fulminant smirked.

“You can sit back if standing is too taxing for you.”

“Feeling fine… but my thanks for the offer,” Seth said as he moved to the table.

“Next up,” Lifeward continued. “We have Stones. An empowered henchman working for the eco-terrorist group, Avalanche.” There was a small silence that was cut by Nico’s snicker.

“Yeah, that’s the name we go by,” Stones said with concurred amusement.

“Among the list of crimes we have are breaking and entering, destruction of private property, assault and battery, and theft. Is this correct?”

“I suppose that would be about right,” Stones said. “We’re in this for the planet, not the rap sheet.”

“Fair enough,” Lifeward said before looking at the remaining member of the group. “Finally we have Fulminant. Despite being somewhat new in the business you have accrued a formidable list of crimes. Impressive for such a short amount of time.”

“What can I say? I do things to impress others.”

“The recent list of incidents is quite long, so I’ll just focus on some of the more relevant things. So we have several counts of breaking and entering, destruction of public property, destruction of private property, assault, and manslaughter.”

“That might be to put it nicely. I wanted to send a message to those that would oppose me.”

“Police reports also say you stand accused of sexual assault of three different girls in the past year. One at the age of consent and two under… and some of them… I’m not going to say anything else on that matter.”

“I…” Fulminant said. His face appeared to be a boastful one, only to quiet down as he saw Lifeward’s unamused look. He just composed himself to say with a chuckling smirk. “Why do you gotta put me on blast here…”

“I’m just stating the reports.” Lifeward’s eyes quickly scanned the faces of the others. Seth looked grim. Stones was hardly surprised. Fulminant didn’t show any remorse, but had remained quiet. “Is this you?”

“It is. Fine… I have a thing for pretty women.” Fulminant’s tune changed from peaceful to one of veiled annoyance. “Is that going to be a problem? I promise I won’t do anything to you or your girl out there.” The guy trailed off, making it easy to imagine the words ‘even though she’s my type’ stuck at the tip of his tongue.

“It is not going to be a problem. I’m just doing my job as I’ve been told,” Lifeward said. “Pardon the inconveniences.”

“You’re excused,” Fulminant huffed, taking her buckling under as a victory.

“Very well, that should be all the confirmation I need. Your rescue is considered complete. If you would please wait here, I’ll run a final check and then order the portal to get you out,” Lifeward said.

As she made her way towards the exit, she took a moment to turn around and say. “Please, feel free to have anything you want from the table.”

She must have been gone for a good minute before someone took notice of what Seth was doing, as the subtle sounds of the modular pieces being popped open and joined together reached Nico’s ears.

“Seth… what are you doing?” Nico asked in a whisper.

“Just… something I wish someone had done for me,” Seth answered grimly as the components took shape. It resembled a gun, but in a different configuration to the one he had before. A cartridge containing metallic disks was inserted at the back.

“We’re safe, Seth…”

“I’m sorry, Nico. But I’ll have to ask you to stand back.”

“But…” Nico stammered. “Is this the best thing to do? We should just… count ourselves lucky that we’re out of this and just let it go?”

“Think he’s right,” Stones said as his hand rested on Seth’s just as he was fitting the pieces together.

The two men exchanged looks, with the older one throwing a dead stare back for the longest time before moving his work away from Stone’s hands. “Are you a good man, Luther? Do you have… people in your life?”

With some hesitation, Stones held his answer.

“Always look after them,” Seth said as he took off his locket and placed it on the table. A simple thing that appeared to have seen its fair share of use. Pressing the button at the top, the thing popped open, revealing two photos within it and the lid. In both was the same blonde teenage girl, bearing a wide playful smile, with a younger Seth in the background of one of them. “Like I couldn’t… This was my Lara. Do you also have someone precious to you?”

“I…” Stones said, seemingly piecing things together, just as Nico did as he witnessed everything. “I do… and I hope to see my Debbie soon.”

Seth nodded as he got back to work. “You asked me why I became a villain… To get back at the person that took her from me. At the person that hurt her in ways that I couldn’t fix. The punishment will never be enough… because she can never come back. Nor ever see what I’ve become.” Seth’s voice was strained as he twisted the modular piece in place and the weapon whirred to life. “But I shall take solace in preventing a future that echoes my own, even if no one will ever thank me for it.”

“What are you two going on about?” Fulminant’s voice reached them.

And, in reply, Seth turned around and pointed the weapon at him.

“Oh you old coot… are you going to do this now? You were waiting for us to be alone, weren’t you?”

Back in the present, Lifeward continued watching the footage as Seth pulled the trigger again and again. Fulminant may have tried to defend himself, calling forth whatever power he’d built up to attack, but those attempts were rebuffed by Stones’ intervention. The eco-terrorist grew more combative the moment his family was threatened. Still, the villain refused to die, even slamming the other inmate to the table, snapping it in half–only to be met by a final shot just as he ran out of power.

With nothing left to toughen himself, the killing blow struck him in the neck, leaving him to fall to the ground, convulsing. Fortunately, he stopped doing that just before the door in the back opened and she re-entered the scene with Obscura.

Neither heard a peep of the chaos thanks to the silence enchantment she’d placed on the safehouse.

She didn’t exactly orchestrate this, nor had she a direct hand in guiding the pieces… She’d researched both men before, while considering whom she might be willing to offer aid. Stones had a daughter whom he cared for a lot for, despite his career path. Whereas research had led her to discover more of Seth’s pain as well as the core reason for his vendetta. She had expected this to be the most likely outcome, once details were revealed.

“I’m sorry for the surprise, Raffina,” Lifeward said to herself. She was ready to delete the footage, just to put this unpleasant situation behind her. Or at least that particular moment. She was hoping to ensure that Stones, Nico, and Seth would be on their way out of the city soon.

She happened to be on her way out of the base when a buzz on her phone alerted her to a message. It was from Raffina.

“Can we talk?”

Monday, January 31st - 4:21pm
Outside Syndicate offices - Portland Oregon

“Caroline, about time.” Raffina greeted her as soon as Caroline arrived at the park a couple of blocks near the Syndicate offices. She was back to her usual sly mood, but there was something about her mannerisms that felt off to Caroline.

“Sorry for the delay. I was just on my way to the other exit when I read your message.” Caroline said, giving the girl a look. “Did you just come from school?”

Raffina nodded, adjusting her P.E. uniform and jacket for the day’s cold. “I’m fresh from it.”

“That’s good to hear,” Caroline said.

“Yeah… a lot of classes. Some are so tiring… I fell a bit behind but, then again, no one has the exciting life I have.”

“Can’t think of many girls that can claim to have spent a weekend in a men’s prison. Let alone doing it willingly.”

“Alas, another good story no one will hear. At least until they read a blog I’ll make with the pictures I took.”

“Just be sure not to leave many identifiable things about yourself.” Caroline snickered, having seen a couple of the girl’s posts of her nightly escapades sneaking into offices and galleries, “How’re your parents? Were they thrilled about the weekend?”

“They were very surprised by it, yeah. My little brother heard the story from start to finish… though I had to omit some parts,” Raffina admitted. “But my parents were both shocked and proud… a bit of an odd mixture.”

“I guess your father doesn’t expect you to undertake dangerous tasks.”

“Yeah…” Raffina trailed off, rubbing her hands to warm them. “And… How about you? Did you have a good time with Sophie?”

“We did. She was so happy to tell me all about the sleepover that she kept on fumbling with her words. We ended up watching a movie together, probably a bit later than she was supposed to but… I guess I should spoil her every now and then to make up for things.” She shook her head with a smile.

“Sophie is a good girl, and you do work a lot. Lots of missions.” Raffina leaned onto the stone handrail at the park that overlooked some greenery, her tone quieted down as though she was debating about the next subject… instead decided to just get to the point. “I had… I had a question.”

“What is it?”

“About yesterday… Well, the weekend. My first assignment.”

“You did a good job, Raffina,” Caroline said.

“You keep telling me that, but one of the guys died under our watch. Will that show in the report?”

“It will,” Caroline simply said.

Raffina groaned. “That was to be my running start. My perfect job… Can I see the report?”

Caroline sighed. “There’s no need.” She knew that to Raffina, the prestige and bragging rights were important for her. And, given the job she invested into the task, her expectation was nothing short of perfect. “Despite the results, you should have no blame on the matters. It’s okay to just let the matter rest.”

“Sorry. I just…” Raffina sighed. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about it during school.”

“If missions are going to start to affect your day to day then I can take you off of the availability list–”

“No! No! I’m fine. I just, I just couldn’t help but think of the circumstances,” Raffina said looking up at her. “You were the last person who talked with them before joining me outside. And, once we came back, you didn’t seem that surprised… I mean, I know you act professional when at work but… I think I expected more surprise.”

Caroline held her silence.

Raffina pressed. “Because… Because during the mission I sensed something off about Fulminant. Specifically the way both you and Cole were overly cautious whenever I was near him, more than Seth, Nico or Stones. You knew something I didn’t, right?”

“Of course I did,” Caroline said. There was uneasiness about her, feeling this would be a preamble to either of her kids finding out about the truth. “And you understand that I had a reason to keep things from you, don’t you?”

“Why?” Raffina asked. “What did you tell them? What did you not tell me?”

“It’s best if you don’t know,” Caroline said dryly. That was enough to clue Raffina in.

“You knew that was going to happen… didn’t you?”

She looked away. “It… it doesn’t matter now. What’s done, it's done.”

“Don’t just gloss it over.” Raffina hopped over to sit on the stone railing that overlooked the greenery on the park, mainly to down at the woman as their eyes met. “Did you set this up? You sabotaged the mission, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t sabotage the mission.” Caroline took a deep breath. “I just made it more likely for that to happen in the end.”

“How?”

“It’s best if you don’t know,” she insisted and, this time, Raffina relented.

“Why? You’re sabotaging the Syndicate.”

“Hardly.” Caroline sighed as she rested her arms on the stone rail. “You know about my past, right?”

“Of course. You being Safety, the heroine once upon a time.”

“I left the name behind when I joined the Syndicate, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to play along with the bigger monsters on this side of the line. I’m not here to excel and execute every assignment perfectly. I’m here to make sure that some of the cruelest monsters never see the help they want… That the irredeemable ones don’t hurt anyone ever again.”

“So you planned to take him down?”

“It was a gamble… as much as I would’ve liked to deal with him, my hands were tied.” Caroline sighed, yet again. “I did my job and rescued them, but what happened next was on them.”

“That is…” Raffina trailed off. “I… I don’t know if it’s dumbass or badass. To go around the organization like that. But should you be telling me this? What if I am recording you?”

“Then I’ll deal with whatever or whoever comes next…” Caroline looked at Raffina with a smile. “But not you. I believe you could do good.”

“Trying to get me into the hero side?” Raffina cracked a smile as the mood relaxed.

“Why not? If I became a Syndicate enforcer, you could be a heroine.”

“You trying to recruit me? Eh… I’m just in this for my own.” Raffina snickered before hopping off. “Well, I won’t hold you. Guess that’s what I needed to know. I think I can really consider this over with.”

She turned, about to walk away when Caroline’s hand rested on her shoulder. “Raffina, are you busy right now?”

“No, not really? I mean, there was an exhibit I hoped to, ahem, check out later, but I can do that any day, really. Plus, that’s in the evening.”

“Well, yesterday I couldn’t really tell you about it. Cole and I have a ritual of treating fellow operatives with a meal after a successful mission.” Caroline looked to the side where a rather fancy pastry shop rested just across the street. “Want to have a hot chocolate and a slice of cake?”

“You’re paying, right? For anything I may want?”

Caroline smiled. “Of course.”

“Then, lead the way. See if Cole wants to come too.”

“Already sent him a message,” Caroline said, showing her the message in her phone.

“Hey, when are you going to teach me new spells? Especially from your personal catalog?” Raffina mused as they walked away.

The end of Jailhouse Lock