Chapter Text
4 DAYS LATER
Joaquin was sitting on a very uncomfortable chair, holding a baby in his arms and making sure that the youngest inhabitant of Haven drank an entire bottle of formula. They were all taking turns with the baby as Nicole was still recovering from a very exhausting delivery. She was incredibly brave, honestly. Unfortunately, she also lost a lot of blood and for a while Joaquin was worried that they might lose her. Luckily the medics helped stabilize her and basically saved her life. The baby was healthy, maybe a little smaller than he would have expected, but at least the appetite was there. As it turned out to be a boy, Mark and Nicole decided to name him Michael after her father.
And here he was now, little Michael drinking greedily in his arms as unfortunately Nicole wasn’t able to produce enough milk herself. He wasn’t that surprised though - he knew how hard it must have been on her to live in an abandoned warehouse close to Pathway Park, with no way to make sure they had enough to eat every single day. He was glad Javier found them and brought them to Haven. They at least had a chance now. A chance at a better life and safety for their baby.
As soon as Michael was done with the entire bottle Joaquin made sure that the baby burped and placed him against his shoulder, planning to rock him for a while to help him get to sleep. After that he was going to bring him back to Nicole and get around to his usual duties.
He stood up and walked back and forth around the corridor, gently rocking the baby in his arms. Taking care of Michael was a great way to get his mind off some things. Frankly, he needed it a lot recently.
Every single person in Haven was shaken up about what happened to Blaze. They decided not to share too many details regarding his death with the civilians, but all of the operatives were horrified with what happened. He could still remember color draining from Anna’s face upon hearing the news and silent tears running down Marta’s cheeks as they kept staring at the photos Barkworth showed them. Joaquin had seen his fair share of gruesome deaths in his life, of course, but this one hit him differently. Blaze’s death was not just any death in the battlefield - it was torture, a show-off for the Hunters, an obvious display of power and cruelty. At first he thought, no, wished that it would all have been just a farce, a trick played on ISAC and ANNA. They’ve seen it before, they knew the systems could have been tricked. But it was not the case this time and as soon as he realized that it was real, that Meyer was really gone, he felt cold weight settle in his gut and he has been unable to shake it ever since.
Meyer was the best agent Kelso had. They still didn’t manage to find out what happened to Wilkins, but it was probably safe to assume that she was dead as well. SHD lost two agents in one day. It won’t be easy to get back on their feet in New York after that.
He felt so sorry for Kelso. She was trying really hard not to show it, but Blaze’s death broke her more than she wanted to admit. He heard her crying at least a few times during the last four days. His first instinct was to go to her, to talk to her and try to make her feel better, but he ultimately decided against it as she obviously didn’t want anyone to witness her moments of weakness. He understood. People had different ways of coping and all he could have done was respect that.
He didn’t know Blaze that well, but he knew him and it was enough to make him grieve too. Luckily he had a lot of reasons to stay busy and keep his mind from wandering. At times like these though, when he was taking care of the baby, it was really hard to keep these thoughts at bay.
He suddenly noticed Anna and Rhodes approaching from the other side of the corridor, arguing about something. He was a little taken aback by that fact as they rarely raised their voices when talking to each other. It only proved that they must have been on edge too.
“That’s absolutely out of the question,” Rhodes was pointing his finger at Anna in a gesture that looked very serious. “There are many ways to go about it and you know it. We have to find another way.”
“There’s no other way and you know it ,” he’s never seen Anna that irritated before. “And I’m going to discuss that with the team during our briefing. It’s not your decision to make, Rhodes.”
“It is. Don’t forget that I’m in charge here.”
“So what? Do you have a better idea?”
“Not yet, but I will. We’re not doing this.”
Joaquin sent them a questioning look as they came to a halt in front of him, immediately shutting up as soon as they noticed that the baby was asleep. Rhodes winced at the sight, trying to do his best not to look at little Michael. Joaquin had no idea why, but Rhodes seemed to be very uneasy in the newborn’s company. He didn’t want to pry and ask why that was, but something told him that it might have had a lot to do with his past and it wasn’t something he could just casually ask about.
“Hey there,” Anna said, the expression on her face softening immediately. “Everything okay?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Joaquin was speaking quietly, trying not to wake the baby. “What the hell is this about?”
“About the fact that she’s being unreasonable,” Rhodes sent Anna an angry look but kept his voice down too. “And emotional.”
“ I’m being unreasonable?” she sent Rhodes a scowl as well, but calmed down soon after. “Okay, I’m not having this conversation with you right now. We’ll talk this through with the team and see what they have to say. You’re not the one to make the decision here.”
“I’m not… okay, that’s enough. Do whatever you want. I don’t care.”
With that, Rhodes turned around on his heels and left Anna standing next to Joaquin, her arms tense and her entire body shaking. He’s never seen her so angry before. Angry and definitely a little sad.
“Are you okay?” he asked after a while, adjusting Michael a little so that he would be resting against his arm more comfortably. Anna sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
“Yeah,” she said after a while. “Sorry you had to see that. We don’t really… see eye to eye on what we should do now. But we’ll tell you more during the briefing.”
Oh, right. Joaquin almost forgot that there was going to be a briefing in two hours.
“For what it’s worth, I trust your judgement,” he said, trying to send her a smile, but it was very hard to smile under the circumstances. “You can talk to me, you know.”
“I know,” Anna sighed again. “Thank you. I’m just… I don’t know. The last few days have been a lot. And I don’t really know what to do or what to feel. So I’m just trying to do something that matters instead.”
Joaquin understood. He felt the same way. Especially after what happened a few days ago and how his own emotions surprised him.
“We’ve been through worse,” he said, rocking the baby again. “And we still have a future worth fighting for.”
“You think so?” she turned a little to look him in the eyes, her gaze sliding towards the baby after a few seconds. “Yeah, I guess we do. Even if we don’t make it better for ourselves, we still have to try and make it work for Michael and the other kids, right?”
He nodded. It was a grim way to put it, but he agreed with the sentiment.
“I just… you know, it’s hard losing people,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “But seeing Michael here, it made me think that it’s not all that bad. We can still rebuild and get better. Even if we don’t get to benefit from that, maybe at least he will.”
“I really hope he does,” Anna smiled a little and reached out to stroke the baby’s head, but retreated her hand at the last moment. “Can I hold him for a moment?”
“Sure,” Joaquin lifted the baby a little and passed him over to Anna, making sure that he was secure against her shoulder. “Be careful though. He just ate.”
“Yeah,” Anna smiled again and started rocking the baby in her arms as well. “He’s so tiny.”
“That he is. But he has a good appetite.”
Anna nodded and seemed lost in thought for a moment, so Joaquin decided not to pry. If she wants to talk to him, she will. There was no use trying to force her.
“I keep thinking,” she said after a while, looking at the baby in her arms. “How we lost one life and gained another almost at the same time. It’s messing with my head, you know. I just… I know it’s a natural cycle of life. People dying, people being born. But killing each other shouldn’t be part of this cycle. There’s so few of us left and we’re still jumping at each other’s throats instead of building a better future together. I… I can’t wrap my head around it.”
“Neither can I,” Joaquin admitted, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. “But there are still people who think more about their personal gain than they do about the wellbeing of the entire nation. And as long as they’re here, we’re not going to be safe.”
“You’re right,” the look in her eyes suddenly turned sadder, making Joaquin’s heart ache at the sight. “I guess we just have to make a difference where we can, right? Even if it means putting ourselves at risk.”
“Yeah. I don’t think there’s a safe way to go about this entire thing.”
Anna sighed again and pulled the baby away from her shoulder, handing him back to Joaquin.
“I wish Rhodes understood that,” she said after a while, turning around to walk away. “Maybe he will if he sees that I’m not the only one who thinks that way.”
Joaquin didn’t answer, because he didn’t know what to say.
The only thing he knew was that none of this was going to get any easier any time soon.
***
The briefing was the first official meeting of operatives since Meyer’s death and to say that the atmosphere was grim would have been an understatement. There was no small talk, no jokes, nothing. Just people sitting in their spots, looking at their watches, tablets, laptops or fingernails. Just to make sure that there was no eye contact. As soon as there was, people would immediately get emotional and there was no time for that. Marta knew it, she knew she had to stay focused. But it was so hard when you haven’t slept for the last four nights.
She blamed herself. Logically, she knew there was nothing she could have done. But would it happen if she made him stay? Would it happen if she told him what she was planning to? So many questions were left unanswered and now there was no way to know how it would have played out. All that was left was guilt, regrets and indescribable pain, almost physical in the way it pushed against her entire nervous system.
She knew they had to do something, that they had to react. That the Hunters were slowly beginning to be a much more serious threat that couldn’t be brushed off easily. And now that they had more intel, now that they had more data, they could finally get to the source. She was really hoping that what they managed to find would be enough to understand what the fuck was really going on here.
If not, it would have all been for nothing and she wouldn’t have been able to live with that.
“I see we’re all here,” Anna was standing in front of a whiteboard, Theo on her left and Rhodes on her right. “We have a lot of information to share with you. It’s probably going to take a while.”
Marta finally snapped out of it and looked around the room just to see grim faces and tired silhouettes. Barkworth was leaning against the wall, a notepad in his hand. Joaquin and Javier were sitting at a table nearby, both very focused. Kelso was also there, sitting on a crate in the front. Dragov was close to the whiteboard with a coffee mug in his hands, focusing on the drink instead of anything happening around him. Paul Bosevi was there as well, the look on his face impossible to decipher. It seemed like everyone just wanted to be left alone or be somewhere else. She didn’t blame them. If it wasn’t for the briefing, she would probably be sitting on the rooftop now, drinking some vodka that was miraculously left after the party.
“We managed to analyze all samples and parts that the team managed to salvage,” it was Theo speaking now. Marta had to admit that the tone of his voice was very pleasant, almost calming. “And we can confirm that without a doubt the Hunters and the Black Tusk are working together, even though at first we believed otherwise.”
Marta wasn’t surprised. Honestly, not much could surprise her anymore.
“They use the same jamming technology,” Anna placed a drawing on the whiteboard and spoke soon after. “And they somehow learned how to jam ANNA the same as ISAC. We still don’t know how that happened, but it doesn’t change the outcome. Haven was targeted by the Black Tusk and it was thanks to that fact we were able to connect the dots. But the fact that we managed to drive them away means that they probably know what we know now. We lost the element of surprise and now we’re a target just like SHD. Both for the Hunters and the Black Tusk.”
Anna placed another drawing next to the first one, this time showing a Hunter mask.
“We managed to find and eradicate a few of the Hunters stationed in New York,” this time Paul Rhodes started speaking, leaning against the table in front of him. “But definitely not all of them. We know that at least one more is on the loose and that he went after Meyer. We have to assume that Wilkins is KIA as well. There is no way to locate her body, but as she made no contact for the last few days we have to assume the worst.”
Marta instinctively turned her head towards Kelso. The woman was sitting with her back turned towards her, but Marta could still read a lot from her posture alone. She was devastated.
“Considering what we know,” Rhodes continued after a brief pause. “The Black Tusk are the mind of this operation. We were able to confirm that the leader of the BTSU, Bardon Schaeffer, was in touch with Natalya Sokolova, the current CEO of the Sokolov Concern. We believe that it was the Sokolov Concern that supplied them with tech and people. They operate from Moscow, so it would fit what we already suspected.”
“The thing is,” Anna started speaking again, taking a whiteboard pen from the table, “That it all started with the Black Tusk and that they’re pulling the strings here. Sokolova has no official operatives anywhere on the ground here, unless we decide to count the Hunters. Therefore, if we want to get to the bottom of this, we need to pull data directly from the Black Tusk servers. And if we want to feel safer in New York, we have to make sure that they have no official base of operations here. Unfortunately,” Anna reached towards the table and pulled out another piece of paper, this time showing a building that Marta immediately recognized. “For now they do. We managed to confirm that they operate out of the United Nations building that was at some point occupied by the Last Man Battalion. If we want to go for the data and for their operatives, we have to go for this base.”
Nobody said a thing at that point, but Marta could easily imagine what they were thinking. An assault on a Black Tusk base? It wasn’t going to be easy. Frankly, it was going to be an incredible tactical challenge.
“We can’t go in with a team that would be too big as we need to keep this quiet and fast,” this time it was Theo stepping to the front of the whiteboard and pointing towards the base of the building. “What we suggest is two teams with two separate tasks. One is going to take care of the operatives, the other one is going to go for the data. Luckily we know this building well enough, so we can assume where the server room might be located. The thing is… we’re going to need somebody with technical expertise. We can’t send just anyone as it’s probably going to require a lot of incredibly fast work.”
“Which is why I’m goin to go with the data team,” Anna moved to the front again and Marta had to blink twice to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming. Did she… did she just suggest that she was going back into the field? “To make sure that we get all the information we need.”
“Which is absolutely out of the question,” there was so much anger in Rhodes’ voice Marta was sure he was going to explode.
“Oh, stop it, Rhodes,” Anna was angry too, but she was at least trying to keep calm and collected. “We talked about this. I’m our best shot.”
“Did you know about this?” Rhodes turned towards Theo and pointed an accusatory finger at him. “Or maybe it was your idea?”
Theo was shocked and honestly, Marta was too. This wasn’t how she expected all this to unravel.
“You think I like this, Rhodes?!” there was so much pain in Theo’s voice it made Marta wince. “I don’t. And I would do anything I could to avoid it. But there’s no other way, okay? Besides, it’s not like she’s going to go alone. We’re going to pair her with someone with more field experience. And the plan is...”
“You’re talking as if we had people to spare. Let me break this to you - we don’t,” Marta had to admit that Rhodes was the last person she would have accused of letting emotions cloud his judgment, but apparently the recent events have shaken him up too badly. “We need our best operatives for the task force. There’s no single person who could…”
“Rhodes,” Dragov suddenly stood up, a warning tone present in his voice, “If I may, please shut the fuck up. I’ll go with her.”
Marta heard a few murmurs around the room, but no one dared to speak louder.
“You will?” Anna looked at him with uncertainty, obviously surprised with his declaration as well. “I was… we were thinking that some Peacekeeper support would be enough.”
“Yes,” he added after a while, not letting Rhodes speak again. “I’m back in good shape and I still have a debt to pay to both of you. This is the least I can do. And let’s face it, there’s no way anyone is going to get past me. So fill me in on the details and let’s plan accordingly.”
Anna actually smiled at that. It obviously made her feel a little more confident.
“Thank you. Now that we have this out of the way, let’s talk about the task force. We suggest Kelso, Serrano, Barkworth and Thorne. They should be more than enough to secure the base. The good thing is, after we do, me and Theo can use it as an additional communication tower. But this is a project for another time, so we’re going to go through the assault plan for now.”
“Anyway,” Theo started speaking again, but Marta could clearly hear his voice was a little shaky. This couldn’t have been easy on him either and Rhodes’ accusations were… well, they were very unfair. “You’re going to go in through the basement parking lot. We have to assume that they will be waiting for us, but it’s the only way in for now. After that, we go to…”
He stopped for a while as everyone’s eyes suddenly followed Paul Rhodes, the man turning around and leaving the room with a loud slam of the door.
On one hand, Marta wished he behaved like an actual leader in this situation.
On the other, she understood him perfectly.
***
Kelso was not sure if she should interfere, but regardless of Rhodes’ history with SHD, he was before all a friend she didn’t want to see suffering. As soon as the briefing was over she made her way towards his office, entering the room unceremoniously and shutting the door behind herself.
“Get out,” Rhodes said immediately, sitting behind his desk and pretending to be busy with paperwork. She sighed and approached him anyway, sitting directly in front of him.
“No,” she said, looking him straight in the eyes. “I know you don’t like people calling you out on your bullshit, but this is too important to just ignore.”
He sent her a glare, placing his hands on the desk.
“ My bullshit? For fuck’s sake, Kelso,” she’s never seen him so angry before but she was planning to get thorugh this conversation anyway. “This is madness. She doesn’t need to go there. She’s going to get herself killed.”
“I understand how you feel,” she did, she really did. She was close to her operatives too, but the greater good was always something that was more important than their personal preferences. “But we need the best for this operation. And it’s not your decision to make. No matter what you think.”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“It should be,” he said, but now his voice was laced with resignation. “What am I worth if I can’t protect my people, Alani? How am I better than SHD if I can’t make sure that they’re safe?”
“No one is safe anymore, Rhodes,” she was trying her best to sound sympathetic. “That’s the worst part. I can’t make sure that my people are safe and you can’t make sure that yours are either. But they’re all eager to play their part. Meyer knew what he was getting himself into. He knew the risks, just like Wilkins. And so does Anna. The fact that she’s ready to risk her own life for what she believes in should be admired, not detested. This is much bigger than just us and a few of our close friends.”
“ I know ,” he said through gritted teeth, not looking at Kelso. “I know. But I already lost her once. I’m not ready to go through this again.”
“But it doesn’t have to happen,” she said, trying to force him to look her in the eyes. “Dragov is going to go with her. You might not like him, but he’s a good operative. And I’m sure he’s not going to let her get hurt. If anyone can pull this off, it’s them. I’m sure that you know this. They know what they’re doing. Frankly, I’m a little impressed that she wants to go.”
Rhodes sighed again, still not looking at Alani. His gaze was focused somewhere to her right, probably on the door or the shelf right next to it.
“I should be impressed too,” he finally spoke after what felt like eternity. “But when she told me what her idea was, I almost felt like I was going to suffocate. I know we need this data, Alani. Trust me, I do. There’s no way to know what the Black Tusk are up to if we don’t connect to their servers. But this, this entire operation? It’s a long shot. Sure, it would be good to kick them out of New York for good. I’m just not sure if it’s going to work the way we want it to.”
“We were almost able to push them out of DC,” Kelso answered with a smirk. “I’m sure you remember what happened at the Tidal Basin. And we did it using four people teams. We have a good team here too. We… we lost some of our agents,” she paused for a while, trying not to let the thought of Meyer and Wilkins cloud her judgement. She will grieve after this is all over. “But we’re strong and we know what we’re doing. We have a good plan. And we’re going to make this right.”
Another long sigh escaped Rhodes’ lips and he finally turned his head, looking Kelso in the eyes.
“I know,” he murmured under his breath. “I know all that, Alani. I just can’t help but worry. We already lost so much. So many people. It gets harder and harder with every single day.”
“That’s true,” she nodded. “We lost a lot. But we also built so much together. There are so many civilians we helped. Don’t tell me it doesn’t count.”
“It does,” he admitted, the expression on his face softening a little. “Don’t think I don’t know this.”
“And this is exactly why we need to go for the Black Tusk,” she added. “Nobody is safe as long as they’re here. And we need to take care of them if we want to take care of the Hunters. There’s no other way to go about this. I’m sorry, but it’s the only way.”
Rhodes leaned forward once again, covering his face with his hands. She could see that he was conflicted. But it was never going to get any easier unless they faced the problem head on. She knew he understood this. She was just hoping that there would have been a way to make him more at ease.
“I know,” he said, his voice much quieter than it was a while ago. “I know and I understand what you’re saying. I just… I’m just so fucking scared .”
Kelso felt a sting of pain in her chest at those words, trying really hard not to show how much it affected her. She’s heard him say that he was tired, angry, disappointed. But it was the first time he ever admitted that he was scared .
“I’m scared too,” she whispered after a while, deciding to allow herself this moment of vulnerability too; something kept telling her that they might both need it in that exact moment. “But we have to do this.”
Rhodes pulled his hands away from his face and leaned against the back of the chair again, facing away from Alani.
He didn’t do it fast enough for her not to notice that he was crying.
***
James Dragov decided to take a break and get some fresh air after the briefing; honestly, he really needed some peace of mind. He was very surprised with Rhodes’ behavior, especially with him storming out of the meeting the way he did. He knew the man was emotional about all this, but this was taking it a little bit too far.
As soon as he stepped out onto the roof covered with a fresh layer of snow, he noticed another person sitting on one of the crates. He wasn’t surprised to see that it was Anna.
“Hey,” he said, sitting next to her and nudging her with his arm. “Are you okay?”
She turned towards him then and it was obvious that she was crying. Her eyes were still red and puffy, even though the tears obviously must have stopped a while ago. He felt his chest constrict with worry at the sight, but he wasn’t going to show it. He knew it wouldn’t have helped in the slightest.
“Yeah,” she said, sending him a sad smile. “I just… I guess I just had to let it all out.”
“Want a cigarette?”
“Yes please.”
They smoked in silence for a while, wind blowing around them. There was no sound other than that and it still felt so strange, especially in a city that used to be so lively. Dragov remembered it well. Sounds of the street, cars honking, people shouting, music blasting from car radios and cafes. He was so familiar with those sounds that silence made him uneasy. He was never going to get used to that.
“So you’re really going to go?” He asked after a while, sharing another cigarette with Anna.
“Yes,” she answered, not looking at him. “Are you really going to come with me?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
There was nothing he could have said at that moment that would have made her feel better, especially after the way Rhodes reacted. But he was still going to try.
“I think it’s very brave,” he added after a moment. “What you’re doing. And I’m going to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. I promised that I’m not going to fuck up again. I’m going to make this right.”
She turned around to look at him then, her expression changing into a delicate smile. Combined with the puffy eyes it made her look really tired.
“I know,” she said, exhaling a puff of smoke. “You’re a good friend, you know that?”
He didn’t. He never really thought about it that way. But hearing Anna say it made him believe that it actually might be true.
“If you say so, Cupcake,” he answered, taking another drag of his cigarette. “For what it’s worth, nothing is going to happen to you. You have my word.”
“I can fend for myself, you know,” she raised an eyebrow in a mocking gesture that made him laugh a little. “Well, maybe not the way you can, but I still have a few aces up my sleeve.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah. I mean, we’re going to leave in a week. That gives me quite a lot of time, especially with Theo’s help. I’m going to modify some of our shields to build a very durable armor set. I’ll modify one for you as well. Not to mention that I can amp the skills up a bit to give us more protection. Especially with the Seeker Mines.”
Dragov laughed in reaction to her words. He almost forgot that she was a very resourceful nerd.
“Speaking of Theo,” he said, reaching for another cigarette as he was already done with the second one. “How did he react? I mean, Rhodes was kind of an asshole during that meeting.”
“Yeah,” she sighed and leaned against the crate they were sitting on. “I was… I didn’t expect him to say what he did. But I talked it through with Theo even before I went to Rhodes. He begged me not to go and it… well, it almost broke my heart. But he also knew that there’s no other way. It’s the Black Tusk, for fuck’s sake. We can’t just send any operative into their base and hope for a miracle. Their systems are an incredibly complex mess and it’s not easy to navigate them. If we have to do this fast, I need to be the one to go. Rhodes obviously can’t do it. Besides, he can do much more if he stays in Haven. His people need him here. And Theo… well, Theo’s injuries were so extensive that it could impact his field performance. That narrows it down to me. And I’m going to go.”
Dragov nodded. He knew she was right. He knew there was no other way.
He also knew that he would protect her with his life if he had to.
“We’ll be just fine,” he said, taking another drag of his cigarette. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to make a hell of a team.”
“True,” she smiled again, taking a drag as well. “Who knows, maybe it’s going to be the first of many incredible missions to come.”
“We have to come up with a team name.”
“No way. I’m done with your cheesy names.”
“Hey! Nova is not a cheesy name!”
“It is. It’s so cheesy, Dragov. Oh my God.”
“And you’re only telling me this now ?!”
Anna sent him another amused glare and busied herself with the cigarette again, tossing it into a bucket they used as a makeshift ashtray and lighting up another one. A moment of silence fell between them, this time much more comfortable than the fake calm Dragov detested ever since the Green Poison hit.
“So you’re saying,” Anna said after a while, looking at the horizon once again. “That we’re going to be fine?”
This question was no joke though, he could tell by the tone of her voice. She really needed to hear it from him and he needed to convince her that he believed it.
Strangely enough, he actually did.
“We are,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and bringing her in for a hug. “You’ll see.”
She didn’t say anything in return; she just wrapped her arm around his waist and brought him closer, letting his chin rest on top of her head. It made him feel comfortable, warm, but also strangely safe. Like he was exactly where he was supposed to be, in a moment that was the biggest comfort he could ever find among his new family.
He wasn’t sure if he'd ever felt that way before and it suddenly made him think that this, this right here, this was right . And it still could be , even though they lived in a world fucked up beyond recognition. That it doesn’t have to be just about survival or bare necessities, that they are all allowed more, they’re all allowed a new, comfortable life.
And he was going to fight for it like crazy.