The Agent Pt. 02: Rogue Nation

"Out with it," Charlie said as she ate what was left of her steak. "You've been acting all jittery and nervous ever since we met. Tell me the real reason why you want my help. And don't tell me that I-can't-tell-you bullshit," she added as Carrie opened her mouth," I'll find out sooner or later." Silently, Carrie nodded and began to explain the happenings for the past months, but she left out Seventy-six's astonishing attempt to kiss her or that she slept with a random man just to erase Seventy-six off her mind.

She hated to admit it, but the raven-haired agent's kiss was nothing she'd ever experienced. The simple touch of the agent's lips on hers was electrifying that it scared her to death. The sex she had with the handsome neighbour was nothing, but a desperate attempt to convince herself that she felt nothing towards Seventy-six. Nonetheless, the only thing she could think about was the agent and the kiss even though her neighbour was on top of her naked body.

"Ah, the famous agent Seventy-six," Charlie said after Carrie finished explaining. "I heard rumours about her. Whispers among the agents. Some said she died a couple of weeks back, others think she's out there alive trying to live a normal life, while others think that she's gone rogue."

"I don't care what other agents think," Carrie snapped. "I just want to find her, that's all. If she is alive, which I know she is, we need to be sure that she's not associated with any rogue agents."

"I don't see a point of doing this. The Agency would kill her either way no matter what side she'll choose," Charlie said, shaking her head. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Carrie sighed and slumped forward. "The assignment that I'm secretly doing is personal. She's a fellow agent and...friend. She might be alone out there without anyone to turn to. Either way, I want to help her in any way that I can. We're all agents here and we've trained together ever since we started walking."

"That may be. But if I find out that she's with the rogue agents," Charlie warned," that's where I draw the line. I would have no choice, but to bring her down, Carrie. I'm your friend, but I'm also loyal to the Agency. Duty above all else."

Carrie pursed her lips and took a hard stare at Charlie. Finally, she nodded and said," Fine. Then we need to find her before they do. But if by chance she is," she waved a hand in the air," let me handle it, okay? No need for violence."

Charlie thought suspiciously of her friend's true motive behind the mission and decided to let it go. If Carrie wanted to find an agent that wandered way too far from the Agency's grid, she thought to herself, then she's nuts. Agent ten doesn't believe in second chances. If an agent went rogue or an ex-rogue who wanted to rejoin the Agency, she believes in never trusting them again and to order a shoot-to-kill.

"Fine. Whats the plan?"

- - - - - - - - - -

After one week of doing absolutely nothing, but lay low, I decided to carefully start training again. After three weeks in the rogue agents' base, I've trained and hit the weights in their gym, which was a little smaller than the Agency's. The intensity of my training increased every day until my body felt sore the next day, but I didn't care. I didn't plan on staying in their base forever. The nights were long and uncomfortable not because I slept in Ashley's bed, but the fact that I felt alienated. The curious and fearful glances from the rogue agents made me realise that I was more alone here than I thought even with Ashley by my side. I need to get out of here, I thought to myself as I ran peacefully on the treadmill. I knew Ashley was hinting me to join her cause, but I didn't want to commit. Sure I was a criminal in the Agency's eyes, but that didn't automatically made me part of Ashley's little group. If anything, I was on neither side, which made me feel more alone.

Panting, I decreased the treadmill's speed and walked for a cold down. I heard the gym door open and close behind me. After a couple of minutes, I turned off the machine and walked off. Three caucasian muscular men and a woman wearing their usual black tank tops and jogging pants walked my way and stopped a couple of feet in front of me. I nodded their way and gave them a small smile. "What's up guys? Early work out?"

One of the men crossed his arms, while the others looked uneasily at me. Uh oh, I thought to myself.

"Let's make some things clear," the browned eyed man lowly said. "We support Ashley and her cause. We'd die for her if it comes to that, but what we don't understand is you. The famous agent Seventy-six, the Agency's top dog who decided to just waltz in here like you own the place. Our only question is-"

"Are you with us?" the female agent butted in. "'Cause if you ain't, then we're wondering where your loyalty lies."

I shrugged. "Neither. I'm on my own side, not the Agency's or your rogue group."

"See, that's the problem," the male agent said as he took a step forward. "Because to us, that's saying you're not with us. Which means, you're against us." He motioned the other agents to come forward, but I stood my ground. I look defiantly at them.

"You don't want to do that," I warned as I held up a hand, but they continued to walk forward. "I don't want any trouble." The male agent attacked first and the rest of the agents tried to flank me judging from their positions. One by one, they attacked me simultaneously, but I counterattacked and defended every one of them. The female agent tried to kick me on the side, but blocked her using my own leg and used the same leg to sidekick the male agent opposite of her. One by one, they came at me, but I blocked and counterattacked, sending their bodies to the floor.

I don't know how many minutes we fought, but they were trained agents and fought in a prolonged period of time.

On the other hand, I was better.

Four agents were down bruised and bloodied, but the brown haired male was still standing, determined to continue on fighting me. Even though the man was tall, huge and clearly made up of muscles, an agent my size has its disadvantages. Instead of isolating my attacks and using individual muscles to execute, I used my whole body, speed as well as jujitsu and akido for a surprise take down. Instead of "man-handling" him, I used tactics and used his body's momentum and joints against him.

He roared and punched at me with all his might, but I jumped up, twisted my body in the air and grappled his whole arm using my legs. I twisted back and let gravity take its place. As soon as I landed on my back, I heard a small cracking sound. I rolled backwards and got back on my feet. The agent howled in pain as he painfully grabbed his dislocated and most likely fractured arm as he laid down on his stomach. The other agents scrambled slowly on their feet as they looked at their friend in horror.

"I said I didn't want any trouble," I panted as I held up a hand. "You have one minute to get out of here, otherwise I'll break every bone in your body." The agents looked at one another, quickly helped their injured friend and limped their way out from the gym. Groaning, I leaned against the wall and grabbed my side checking to see if any of my stitches broke. Luckily, they were intact, but the fight took a toll to my body.

An intense fight that lasts for five minutes is almost equivalent to five hours to a fighter. The energy, focus, and the endurance it take to last that long can tire you out immediately. I've been in numerous fist, gun, and knife fights to say that I'm quite experienced, but in this fight I didn't give my 100% due to my wounds. I made it through, but it exhausted me.

Slowly, I walked out from the gym and attempted to find Ashley.

The grey-eyed rogue agent has been busy with a mission, but she gave me no further details. She said it was something I'd be interested in, but I didn't promise her that I'd change my mind. The agent was in the communication room with a handful of hackers typing away on their laptops. The room was a mess, but they were productive and busy. Ashley was in front of a big smart board that showed the map of the world. Multiple small red dots were plastered on some of them.

When Ashley looked at me when I came in, she looked like she hasn't slept in days. There were dark rings under her eyes and her messy ponytail looked like it hasn't been washed. I looked at her questionably while she quickly walked towards me, grabbed my arm and pushed me inside an empty conference room.

"You mind telling me what's going on?" I asked after she locked the door and sighed. She took a deep breath and leaned against the door, shaking her head.

"The Trojan Horse is still out there."

"What?" I breathed. "That's impossible! The prototype was destroyed in Helen of Troy!"

"Well, looks like it wasn't the only copy. It was activated again in Chicago an hour ago."

"Do you know where it's located?"

"Yea, but..." she trailed off and shook her head. "I know what you're going to do, agent. You're not coming with us. You've been through enough."

"No, nooooo," I refuted angrily. "You of all people should know that I won't back down-"

"This time is different. It's a no for you."

"Fuck that!"

"My word is final," she continued, glaring. "I'll update you, but other than that, stay out of our way!"

I gaped at her as she unlocked the door and stepped out.

"Ashley!" she slammed the door in front of my face. Infuriated, I opened the door and went after her, but she was already gone. This was my mission before, I thought stubbornly to myself, and it's still my mission now. I didn't care about my wounds. I knew I could somehow modify my fights, but that didn't mean I couldn't fight.

A couple of armed, uniformed and masked agents walked towards my way with a scarred middle-aged man leading them. "This might be last minute, but that ain't an excuse to not be ready!" he bellowed thunderously. "We go in the plane in five minutes bound for Chinatown, Chicago. This Trojan Horse won't gallop its way away from us this time. Let's go!"

My ears pricked as soon as he mentioned the Trojan Horse. Without hesitation, I sprinted towards the locker room hoping extra uniforms were there.

To my relief, the locker room has extra uniforms that were laying around. Eyeing the size of it, I grabbed one and tried it on. It was a little loose than I thought, but I could manage. Afterwards, I went to the weaponry and attempted to hack the security code. After my third try, the metal door opened and gathered what I needed. Fucking Ashley, I thought to myself. She can't stop me from doing what I needed to do.

After I closed the weaponry room door, I sprinted towards the other end of the building where all their planes and other vehicles were stored. Luckily, the agents that I saw before started to board into the plane. Silently, I joined them at the back of the line.

- - - - - - -

The silent trip to Chicago was an hour long. None of the rogue agents talked. It was if they were in their own little world. It was quite eerie since I was surrounded by strangers, but it was also quite exhilarating. Once we were briefed by the middle-aged man, whose nickname was "The Colonel," we were to retrieve the Trojan Horse and bring it to the base. I narrowed my eyes together, angered by the fact that they won't destroy it. No organisation should have this type of technology, I thought to myself. It was way too dangerous and powerful.

The fact that the rogue agency wants it, I suspected that the Agency would want it too. It was a dangerous game of tug-of-war, but I didn't want any part of it. I just wanted to destroy the device even if it meant turning my back against both organisation. I'm sorry, Ashley, I thought to myself.

"Alright, we're almost there," the Colonel said. "The sky is dark and it's snowing out. We'd have cover when we parachute down, but remain vigilant. It might be late out, but there's still some people roaming around down there. Prepare to parachute!"

Parachuting down to a specific building was a challenge, especially if the building was in a big city. It'd take a lot of focus and timing to manoeuvre our way down, but it can be done. One by one, the agents jumped down after the Colonel signalled them to. Once it was my turn, he looked at me suspiciously, cocked his head to the side and let his eyes wandered all over my body. "Go!" he shouted as he pointed his finger down to the ground. I nodded then jumped out.

The sky was dark due to the grey clouds above us. Bits of snowflakes hit my suit as my body crashed through the cold winds. I made my body more aerodynamic by pulling my limbs to my sides and straightening my spine. Two small figures below me got their parachutes out as they prepared to land. Thirty seconds has passed and I spread my arms and legs apart. I felt my body pull up a bit. My arm went across my body, grabbed the rip cord, and pulled it hard. The grey parachute flew up and my body violently got pulled up. Hurriedly, I grabbed the steering toggle and steadied myself.

The flat rooftop of the targeted building was getting nearer by the second. Once my boots hit the cemented floor, I crouched down, grabbed my gun, and waited. The other rogue agents were there in a similar position I was in. With our guns pointed forward, we waited until every last of us landed. I was the fourth agent that landed, which meant we were waiting for the Colonel. Two minutes has passed and the middle-aged man finally landed behind me. Synchronised, we rolled our parachutes back into our bags, then circled ourselves around the exit door.

The colonel slipped in an optic fibre underneath he wooden door, then ordered one of us to break the lock. He led us smoothly downstairs with our guns ready at hand. The four agents knew exactly what they were doing. In every corner that we rounded, they knew their defence positions, which had a slight difference to the positions I knew, but I somehow mimicked them.

The building's furnace was up on high and the smell was a mix between Chinese food, sweat and incense. It wasn't well maintained judging from the cracked walls, messy hallways and cockroaches scurrying around. The lighting were put on low and the hallways were dim. So far, we passed by only empty rooms, but we were heading in the basement. It seemed cliche that the rundown Chinese restaurant had illegal activities in its basement, but the dark reality of Chicago's chinatown was the fact that the Chinese mob runs that part of town. Most of its citizens, especially business owners, won't have a choice if they were ordered to do something illegal for them.

It wasn't cliche for them. It became their forced reality.

We positioned ourselves in a semicircle once we reached the basement door. The Colonel slipped an optic fibre in once again and ordered an agent to unlock it. "Be ready," he whispered gravely. "There are a handful of thugs down there. Keep the violence in control." We nodded and readied ourselves. Softly, the door clicked open and the middle-aged man led us downstairs.

The basement was dark, but once we got nearer to the main room, there were multiple tables filled with bundles of money and small bags containing white powdered substances. There were thugs, but there were also teenage and elderly individuals of Asian descents who were all wearing face masks and latex gloves. The fatigued looking individuals were packaging the white substances into small bags. Cocaine, I thought to myself. Having civilians mixed in illegal activities never had a favourable outcome. At the back of the room was a corner filled with multiple computers. A lone man sat in front of a monitor, typing away. It's there, I thought to myself. It had to be there.

The colonel aimed his gun at a thug and pulled the trigger. A big hole went through between the bearded man's eyebrows and the dead corpse dropped to the ground. Quickly, the other agents and I did the same. I rolled behind a metal table and held my position there. Gingerly, I picked my targets carefully and made sure I didn't shoot at any civilians. One by one, the thugs fell while the frightened civilians dropped flat to the floor, wishing they were somewhere else. The air was filled with clouds of cocaine and bits of ripped money. The man who was in front of the monitor was now on the ground with his hand putting pressure on his chest while the other aimed the gun at us.

I have to get to him before they do, I thought to myself. Quickly, I scrambled onto my feet and sprinted towards the injured man. If I did this fast enough in a curved fashion, the man's chance of hitting my body was low. I huffed as I felt multiple bullets rush passed me. Once the man ran out of bullets, I sprinted with all my might in a straight line and kicked hard directly on his face. I pulled him out of harms way and checked his pockets. Then, my heart did a little jump once my fingertips felt a small cylinder-like object in his right shirt pocket. I pulled it out and smiled once I saw a small, black horse engraved by its side.

The Trojan Horse was in my hand once again.

Multiple footsteps were heading my way. I wouldn't have the time to shoot at the damn thing without making the rogue agents suspicious. Instead, I put the device inside my own pocket. I crouched down and went into a defensive position while I waited for the others. The middle-aged man looked at me, at the dead corpse and towards the shattered computers. His panicked eyes scanned the messy desk and ordered us to find a cylinder shaped USB. "Check the whole fucking place and every fucking pockets of the dead criminals. Maybe even the civilians'," he panted hoarsely. "You," he pointed a finger towards me," help me with this messy desk."

I nodded and helped him rummage through every drawers, USB drives, everywhere, but of course we couldn't find anything. A few minutes later, we regrouped and reported back to the Colonel. They came back empty handed. "What the flying fuck," he panted in rage. "Then where the fuck is it!?"

"Sir," a man's voice called out. "Maybe it's upstairs. Who knows, maybe they moved it up on the last minute."

"It better be. We didn't come here for nothing. Move up!"

While the civilians scrambled to their feet and exited the building, we quickly moved up and started searching the rooms upstairs. A small sense of danger was beginning to make itself known in my gut as we went our separate ways and searched individually. The agents searched every corner in every room for the next fifteen to thirty minutes, but they found nothing. We regrouped again near the entrance door. The Colonel pulled his mask off his face and frowned.

"This fucking doesn't make any sense," he murmured as he scratched his greying hair in frustration. "We've been tracking this thing for weeks now. We were so careful and now," he grunted loudly in frustration. "We're back to square one!"

"Maybe it was a trap, sir. Maybe they found out we were tracking them, and set this place as a trap-"

"There was no fucking trap. Those thugs downstairs had no idea we were coming and if they did, they'd probably bring more guys, not civilians."

"Well," the other female agent said, hesitating. "What if the Agency beat us to it? Sneaked their way in undetected and stole the device?"

We looked at the Colonel with uncertainty as his frown deepened. "That...could be a possibility. Those bastards are pretty sneaky." He sighed and shook his head. "Well, I'm sorry to have wasted your time, agents. We should report back to base-"

The front door flew open and a handful of black masked and suited figures swarmed in. We got into a defensive position with the Colonel in front of the defensive wall. He pointed the gun at a slim figure, who walked its way towards us. I knew those uniforms because I've worn one before. They were from the Agency. I squinted towards the slim figure, whose green eyes hit every warning system in my body. I've seen those eyes before.