Chapter Eight

IVY

"How much longer till we're there?" Ashe's voice whispers to me. Our sneakers create minimal noise on the metal walkway of the warehouse we're currently infiltrating, and our black full-body suits help us blend into the darkness. Our newest mission; to destroy the warehouse on the other side of town, holding many art counterfeits. The Bosak gang sells fake artwork to those uneducated in the art world. It's disgusting to take advantage of people like that, but not something I would consider worth killing over. But it's not like the government is doing anything, and we don't exactly turn people in for their crimes. Once we get a request and Secretary approves it, nothing will really stop that request from going through.

"Not much longer–" I turn around to see him walking without his gas mask on. "Ashe!" I whisper and shout simultaneously at the slightly taller male.

"What?!" He looks at me with his amber eyes as if I'm the crazy one.

"Ashe, please put on your mask. The boxes delivered by Fox and Shadow earlier may have been filled with other counterfeit art, but there's a vial of sarin in there. Its fumes are highly toxic; your muscles and nerves will become paralyzed, and you'll die quickly from not being able to breathe and your heart stopping." He doesn't say anything back but looks at me wide-eyed. After a second passes, he quickly puts on the mask to protect himself from any of the toxin's vapors.

Once Ashe sets off his explosives near the sarin supply, the heat will speed up the liquid's vaporization, and it will spread quickly throughout the warehouse. The explosion should also take care of any artwork that should be destroyed and any people who persist through the vapors. We make it to the destination, where all the newest cargo is, right above it on the metal railings. I take out the climbing gear from Ashe's bag, careful to not open the zipper with the explosives.

"There's a few henchmen walking around on patrol. I'll make sure to distract them as you lower down and set up what you need to." I click the carabiner into place on the pipe rail, tugging to ensure the pipe doesn't break. "Alright, you know what to do from here?" I ask the redhead.

"Yup, I'll wait for your signal to lower."

"And wait for my signal to detonate as well." We're the only ones on the job today, so no one else can help us coordinate.

"Yeah, yeah, I got this." He stretches his arms above his head and behind his back as he casually speaks.

I can't help but feel uneasy at those words as we both place our earpieces in to communicate with one another. The 23-year-old gears himself up and opens his bag to confirm he has all the necessary explosives. I turn my back to him, heading further down the walkway, staying out of the light's path as much as possible from the dimly lit bulbs. Scanning the 9100 square meter area, I note only 10 guards; none patrol the entrances, just the boxes of counterfeit paintings scattered in the building. 10 is a pretty low number for their security, but it makes our job easier. Three secure the new shipment, while the other seven wander about without any pattern to their movements– a few even yawn, tired from standing all day. I don't see any weapons on any of the men walking around, not even a knife, but that doesn't mean they don't have anything extra up their sleeves.

Reaching the end of the high rail, maybe 60 meters from where I left Ashe, I crouch down to examine the different pipes that serve as bars for the railing. Being located in an abandoned warehouse this old, there has to be a few that are loose. I grab and manipulate one bar at a time, seeing if any will budge; a few do, but one, in particular, is relatively lax. I pry the bar out, making some noise while doing so. One of the nearby guards looks up in my direction, but I'm already out of sight. The bald man cautiously looks around as I hide flat on the bridge's flooring, metal pipe in hand. The perspective from above will make it hard for him to spot me, or Ashe, from this distance further down; We are 13 meters high.

Once I sense it's all clear to get up again, I make my way towards the closest one of the two stair sets to get up and down the tall railing. Carefully, I make my route down, staying out of any of the guards' line of vision. Several crates fill the enormous space, giving plenty of hiding spots, but also blind spots. At least from above, I could still see everything, but it's hard to navigate down on the field– especially with the gas mask on.

"Alright, Ashe, can you hear me?" I whisper into the device.

"Nice and clear!!" He sounds off.

"Alright, can you tell me where each patroller is? I'm on the ground level with them, the east side from where you are." I look around to see if there's anything to help identify where I hide. "There's a giant number four in front of me."

"I see it. A guard is coming toward you from the south. He'll end up on your… left?" He replies back, pauses momentarily. "Yeah, your left. He's gonna round the corner of the boxes you're by in 3…2…" I see the barely visible shadow extend and ready myself with the metal pipe. I would use my gun, but I'll save that for emergencies.

The man doesn't get a second to register what's happening before I abruptly block his path, knocking him over the head with the metal extension I wield. The feeling is foreign to me since I'm not used to handling melee weapons. Still, the amount of force is enough to leave the suited man motionless on the ground. I lean down to check if there's any bleeding or pulse left; a little bit of blood starts to coat his long dark hair, and the pulse there is barely registerable. He'll be gone soon. "Where's the next one?" I ask.

"There's one more close to where you are, but the rest are below me and to the west end of the warehouse. Uhhhh…" I look over to his position but can't clearly determine his actions, my brown eyes straining to get a better view. Is he leaning outwards?

"Ashe, what are you doing? If you can't see them all, it's fine; I can handle it myself down here."

"It's fine... I'm just looking out a bit… shit!" I see the young man stumble a bit on the railing above but quickly duck out of sight. A quiet clink resounds, barely audible from where I stand.

"What was that?" I ask in hushed tones, trying to see what is happening past all the crates.

"I'm gonna need a big distraction now." I don't hesitate to follow up. Coming out of hiding, I don't see anyone in my line of sight, but I throw the giant metal rod at one of the metal supports in the warehouse. The sound is piercing, the clanging attracting the attention Ashe needs. Several footsteps make their way over to my location.

"I'm gonna need some info, Ashe!" I duck behind a few boxes, unsure where the closest footsteps are coming from.

"The first person is ahead of you, to your right!" Ashe is back up and on the lookout. "The rest are coming from your left, but they're still making their way over to your location."

"Hey!" A rough voice speaks out as he rounds a set of boxes. Behind his black blazer rests a pistol. Great. He brings out the gun, aiming it at me, and without hesitation, begins to shoot. Somersaulting out of the way, I slip my own weapon into my hands, effortlessly taking the single shot I need to silence the man.

"Now's probably the best opportunity you have to lower down and set up your contraption Ashe." I relay into the earpiece as I shuffle away from the body to hide once again. "What happened?"

"Uh… one of the spare carabiners… fell… ehehe." I can visualize the irresponsible look on his face. I try my best to remain calm. "Lowering down now."

"Did they find it? Or see you?"

"I don't think so, considering all of them went in your direction." I hear the rustling of the ropes as he lowers himself down. To make sure none of the other men look in his direction, I sound off another gunshot and quickly move around again.

"That's good, I guess, but maybe we should tell Secretary to assign fewer stealth missions for you." I sigh. I try my best to listen to the ruckus of shoes pacing along the concrete.

"I've told everyone how the only thing I'm good for is explosives, and even when I'm forced to do these missions, all I ever receive is criticism. Appreciation every once in a while would be nice." The redhead mutters into the communication device.

"Yes, I appreciate you almost giving away your location. Happy?" I take a peek from behind one of the boxes and see two men inspecting the first body I took out, about 10 meters away. Another two I see walking carefully around the crates, and the remaining four I can't see.

An exhausted sigh escapes from Ashe's mouth, "I made it down; I'm gonna go ahead and set up."

I don't have time to respond to anything when I hear the sound of a pair of footsteps rounding the corner of the crates I hide behind. I shift my feet around, only to bump into one of several paintings outside its containers, knocking the counterfeit over.

"Over here!" Two henchmen reveal themselves, each armed with a standard Glock handgun. The ringing of bullets transpires, many of them missing me and hitting the wooden boxes. The gas mask prevents me from seeing my best, but I manage to take the offensive when they reload their guns after wasting a round of ammo. Dashing my way up to the two, I shoot at both of their hands to disarm them. As they cry out in pain, I pick up one of the fallen guns and, using that with my own pistol, shoot both men at point blank range, right through their heads.

The six remaining men make their way over, and on seeing four of their comrades dead, they don't hesitate to fire at me. I know it's foolish to stay around that outnumbered, so I dash out of there, my black sneakers slapping across the concrete flooring. "How's that setup going, Ashe?" I ask impatiently.

"I'm almost done. I need one more minute."

"And I need a one-up in life," I state as I pivot quickly to avoid the gunshots behind me. I make a few blind shots with the pistol I picked up, hoping to take someone out as I continue running away. When I run out of ammo, I toss it at them, hearing one grunt. At least I hit something.

"What? Do you play video games? I didn't know that about you." Ashe clamors.

"Not really the time, Ashe," I grumble between breaths. I don't play video games, but I've seen Luke play enough of them.

"Sorry… well, I just finished setting up, and I'm walking away now. When should I set it off?" He awkwardly transitions the topic.

"Can you get back up to a high vantage point?"

"Not without it possibly crumbling once I set off the bombs."

"Tch… okay, just wait for my signal." I pivot once again, running toward the explosive setup and toxin. More gunshots go off, and I barely manage to weave my way around to avoid most of the shots. A few end up grazing my arms and legs, but nothing I can't handle. It's convenient that the place is set up like a maze with the mess of inventory they have. Finally making it to the new shipment, I pass by the homemade bombs wired around the new boxes. "Alright, set it off in five seconds!" I breathe out as I turn around to see the six henchmen behind me.

Five, four, three, two… I don't hear the explosion, but I feel it. The wind from the burst of chemicals reacting knocks me off my feet. I called it a bit close, but it definitely hit most, if not all, the remaining guards. I roll around, eventually hitting one of the giant crates in the warehouse. The musk from the smoke and the heat of the intense fire take up my senses, my eyes still closed from what just happened.

"Ivy?! Are you okay?" I hear Ashe's concerned voice, mixed with a silent ringing in my ear. At least my earpiece is still working adequately.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm good. Are you?" I open my brown eyes to see the amount of damage the bomb has created. Nothing terrible, but it'll spread.

"Just fine, but we have to get out of here."

"I know; where are you?"

"I'm where you were when you took out the first guy. By the giant four." We've entirely swapped places on opposite sides of the warehouse once again. "I was able to sneak past when they were busy chasing you, heh." A sheepish confession.

"Alright, I'm heading over–" The bullet just misses me, hitting the box behind me instead. I look back at the pile of bodies to see two of them still moving.

"What happened?" I hear Ashe probe.

"Two of the men have decided to cheat death." They shouldn't be up after that. The explosion, or the toxin, should have taken them out. If I were in their place, I would probably be fighting, just for the sake of not going down without a good fight. Lifting my pistol back up, I skillfully take out one with a shot of ammo, but the other drags himself to hide behind one of the crates not blazing on fire.

"Uhhh, I think more than two. Make it three." I hear Ashe panic. I look around and notice only four bodies, including the one I just shot, remain on the ground.

"Shit. Hold on." I need to think. It shouldn't be too hard to take out two more guards, especially since they're significantly weakened. The problem is that the knockback from the explosion and the sound of the fire and internal structure collapsing give me a time constraint and lack of ability to focus.

As I walk past the burning structures, one of the henchmen, still alive but severely injured from the explosion, on the ground begins choking, the poisonous air finally taking hold of him. His muscles start seizing, and he struggles to inhale the air that is extinguishing his life. I point my pistol at him, ready to end his misery, when the trigger seizes, refusing to release any bullets. "Dammit." I curse under my breath. "Unfortunately for you, I'm out of ammo." I replace the gun back into its holster on my thigh.

I don't see any sign of the other one who ran off, so with the last of the guards I was dealing with gone, I rush up the metal walkway above to get a better view to find Ashe. I need to be quick. It's a miracle the pathway is still intact. The rusty pieces creak under my weight, and the heat from the fires below makes it difficult to navigate the iron passage. Thankfully, the gas mask not only helps keep the poison fumes out but the smoke, too.

Spotting the other agent, Ashe begins to panic in his earpiece as he corners himself at the other end of the warehouse. "Ivy, I kinda need some help here!" The mystery guard must've met up with the one who Ashe was initially concerned about since both are chasing the explosive expert. As I turn to head back down from the dangerous path, the stairs I used to climb up 13 meters break, crashing onto the floor and into several spots of fire. I stabilize myself on the suspended path, and it takes everything in me to not freak out. This isn't good; I can only imagine my body splattered on the floor if I fell from this high.

"Fu–Can't you do anything?" I ask, crossing the walkway with trepidation as each creaking sound ensues, attempting to make my way closer to him and toward the other stairway that's still intact. From this perspective, I can see just how fast the flames have spread and the destruction that Ashe created.

"I don't have anything else on–" His voice cuts off, and I look over to see him dodging some of their attacks. At least they don't seem to have any weapons on their person. But, of course, this kind of thing happens the one time we're without Fox or Shadow to help. Secretary will give us an earful for this if she finds out. Or if we're still alive.

Disregarding the danger, I rush over the railings above. I yell into the communication device, "You're an idiot, Ashe, and I don't care if that's the last thing I say to you." I pause, knowing fully that I would care if that's the last thing I said. "Just hold on, I'm on my wa– ah!" The metal railing begins to fall, the pieces breaking from the heat and damage Ashe's explosions had created. My hand barely grabs one of the bars in time, saving me from plummeting 13 meters high; however, the momentum from the metal walkway swinging down has me losing my sense of direction. My gas mask doesn't make it any easier to see my surroundings, but I manage to find where Ashe is again, his fiery hair blending with the flames engulfing the building.

"Wait!" I hear Ashe exclaim, pulling something out from his pocket, still barely dodging the advances of the guards.

"What is it?" I probe, using my upper body strength to carry me back up.

"Catch!" The redhead shouts, but not to me; I'm too far away to catch anything from him right now. Barely able to make out his actions through the fogged plastic in front of my face, I see him run straight toward the two henchmen and toss a small, round object into one of their hands. The unknown man drops the grenade to the floor, startled by the casual placement, as Ashe keeps running away. The blast goes off soon after the small incendiary hits the floor, knocking the two men to the walls where Ashe once stood. Thankfully, I'm far away enough to not see the total damage it probably caused.

I stumble down the nearest set of stairs, still unbroken for me to descend; I don't want to spend any more time on the crumbling metal path. "Ashe, where are you?" I wince in pain, the scrapes and burns finally announcing just how much they actually hurt. "Ashe?" I ask again, but with no response. "Ashe!" I pick up my pace, traversing through the hellscape we created. Did he not get far away enough? Was he hit by his own blast?

After dashing around for a few moments without any sign from the redhead, I start panicking. "Ashe, please answer me!" I yell out as I pass by the other guards' fallen bodies, the relentless heat beginning to crush me. One of the boxes by me combusts, the force pushing me back, and I barely manage to stay on my feet. We must get out of here before the place collapses or the fire department gets here. I take a few more steps to where the last explosion took place. I avert my eyes from the two bodies splattered against the warehouse walls and turn in the other direction to follow where Ashe was running. It doesn't take long for me to find him slumped up against one of the supporting pillars, scraps of flaming debris around him.

"Ashe!" I run up to him, sliding next to his limp body. "Ashe, please, please, please, wake up!" I shake the young man and check to see if there are any apparent wounds I can visibly ascertain. His gas mask is unharmed, and he still has a pulse, but I do manage to find a massive gash on his left leg and right pectoral region. I don't have any first-aid supplies on me at the moment, so the best I can do is try to carry him out and get him to the car we used to get here. I'll have to call Raven to see if she can air-lift him to headquarters if it's more excruciating than it looks. But that can only happen once we get to a safe location.

I sling the redhead's arm over my shoulders and lift him up, but my own cuts and bruises make the task that much more challenging. It doesn't matter, though; what matters is both of us getting out of here alive. We did our job to destroy the counterfeit art and eliminate any witnesses. As I reach the doors where we snuck in earlier, I can feel Ashe stir awake. "...Iv…Ivy…?"

"You know when you said you'd be willing to kamikaze yourself earlier… I thought you were joking."

"Well, you know me, heh." A defeated chuckle comes from the young man, followed by a series of several coughs. In the distance, I can hear the sound of sirens. "I either never take anything seriously enough or take it too seriously." I can't see his face well, but I can tell he has a slight smile plastered on it.

"Come on, let's get out of here." We stumble our way to the car we used to get here, parked a block away, as we hear the sirens become louder. I'm not worried; we'll be gone by the time they get there, and the sarin's toxicity should dissipate by then. It'll probably be ruled as some gang dealing. Ashe and I will make it to the safety of being lectured by Secretary.

Even as we do, in fact, make it to the car and drive away safely, I can't help but feel anxious. Because of Ashe's wounds? Maybe. But I feel like there's something more.

Like someone is watching us.