Loose Lips Ch 3
Title: Loose Lips
Rating: MA-17
Warnings: Strong language
Word Count: 925
A/N: Orpheus was a musician who charmed his way into the Underworld in an attempt to bring back his dead wife, Eurydice. I found them fitting as Sark and Julia's call signs. (And no, not foreshadowing at all.
) Special thanks to
born30 for her constant encouragement and availability to listen to my crazy venting.
Her advice has been invaluable. And thanks to redbookie for beta-ing.
Originally posted at CopyThat.
Loose Lips: Chapter 3
***3 MONTHS LATER***
They had followed the money. Logic dictated that discovering the final destination of all transactions and their account holders' identities would lead them to the people behind the Covenant. Knowing their names would define motives and ultimately, the Covenant endgame. They could then destroy the Covenant a myriad of ways.
Unfortunately, the plan was simple in theory but difficult in execution. They had started by tracing the accounts from which they were paid, but they had to tread very lightly to avoid rousing suspicion. Everything left digital fingerprints nowadays. Although they made some headway, Sark missed Marshall. They were good, but compared to his touch, delicate as a scalpel, they were the blunt force of a battle-axe. The swath they cut would definitely be noticed.
"Why can't we involve Marshall? You're helping the CIA. Marshall works for the CIA. It should be a straightforward solution."
"They won't do it."
"They know you're on their side, right? Does the CIA want to bring down the Covenant or not?"
"I've asked. Repeatedly. They won't do it. Marshall is working on a project of higher importance."
"I'dve thought you'd be of highest priority. But I'm not the CIA. Why work for people who so easily discard you?"
She shot him a look of barely contained fury and grief. "Irina Derevko gave you up to save a man she pretended to love for over ten years. Sloane condemned your lover to someone else's body and boyfriend. The Covenant sprang you from the CIA to steal your inheritance. Don't talk to me about employers. We're capable people, Sark. We'll destroy the Covenant another way."
She resumed staring at her computer screen and didn't speak to him again for the rest of the evening. He noted that she still refused to acknowledge that Derevko was her mother, the man was her father, that Allison killed her friend, Francie, and almost killed her friend, Will. At least she was warming up. Although, now that he was on the receiving end of her temper again, he almost wished he hadn't fired her up. He refrained from sharing his thoughts and retreated to his quarters.
Instead, Sark suggested they start from the bottom. Of course, it was nearly impossible to track all the disparate businesses funneling into the Covenant. The night clubs, bars, arms and drug dealers were usually run cash-only and without the convenience of 10-Ks and PNL statements. It was futile to shut each individual operation down. If they cut off one source, two more would spring up in its place. They decided to leave the small operations alone and go after the ones which would hurt the Covenant the most.
Which brought them to where they were tonight.
Julia (He had taken to calling her that in his mind to distinguish her from Sydney. And even though Julia insisted that Sydney was gone, he chose to believe that she was merely in hiding.) was currently inside a Covenant warehouse. A Covenant warehouse with exactly one Ukranian nuclear warhead.
"Eurydice, we only have seventeen minutes left before we must leave for our day job."
"Copy that, Orpheus. I've deactivated and removed the core. I'll be out in five."
Chasing down lead after lead invariably left them limited time to carry out their Covenant assignments - which was just fine with him. That way, he could take on more and more of the wet work and leave the relatively death-free sleuthing to Julia. She didn't need his protection, of course. She could more than take care of herself. But now that he knew she was still Sydney deep inside, it disquieted him to see her end lives with such callous disregard. More than once, he wondered what the Covenant had done to her.
At any rate, tonight was one of the rare times when they were actually doing missions together. Mostly, they just went the divide and conquer route.
"Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!"
"Talk to me Eurydice! What's going on?"
"I need you to open the back door stat!"
A blur of hot pink and blonde hair, combat boots and a lead-reinforced backpack barreled towards the beige van. Six uniformed guards and their very impressive guns sprayed bullets down after her. Sark hastened to open the door just in time as Julia vaulted through, limbs flailing.
"Go, go, go!"
Julia's frantic cursing and jagged breathing brooked no argument. He gunned the gas pedal and screeched out the alleyway.
"What the hell happened? Are you hurt? Did they see your face?"
"I ran into some company on the way out. I doubt they've noticed the missing core already. Hopefully, they'll just think I'm a petty thief. And I'm fine."
"Did they see your face?"
"I don't know."
"If they saw your face, Julia, we have a problem."
"I know that, Sark. I'm not stupid."
"Well, it was stupid to get made."
"Unfortunate. Not stupid. Very big difference. Besides, you were supposed to be watching my back!"
"We only had visuals for the outside, Julia. I can't warn you about things I can't see. That's what your training is for."
She stared out the window, hunched over in her seat and whispered, "I'm sorry."
"It's done. Get your head back in the game. We have one more op and then we're done for the day."
With that, she leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and stole what rest she could.
***18 HOURS LATER***
"Julia, Cole wants to see us tomorrow."
"Do you think he suspects?"
"I guess we'll find out."
***TBC***
Rating: MA-17
Warnings: Strong language
Word Count: 925
A/N: Orpheus was a musician who charmed his way into the Underworld in an attempt to bring back his dead wife, Eurydice. I found them fitting as Sark and Julia's call signs. (And no, not foreshadowing at all.
) Special thanks to
born30 for her constant encouragement and availability to listen to my crazy venting.
Her advice has been invaluable. And thanks to redbookie for beta-ing.
Originally posted at CopyThat.
Loose Lips: Chapter 3
***3 MONTHS LATER***
They had followed the money. Logic dictated that discovering the final destination of all transactions and their account holders' identities would lead them to the people behind the Covenant. Knowing their names would define motives and ultimately, the Covenant endgame. They could then destroy the Covenant a myriad of ways.
Unfortunately, the plan was simple in theory but difficult in execution. They had started by tracing the accounts from which they were paid, but they had to tread very lightly to avoid rousing suspicion. Everything left digital fingerprints nowadays. Although they made some headway, Sark missed Marshall. They were good, but compared to his touch, delicate as a scalpel, they were the blunt force of a battle-axe. The swath they cut would definitely be noticed.
"Why can't we involve Marshall? You're helping the CIA. Marshall works for the CIA. It should be a straightforward solution."
"They won't do it."
"They know you're on their side, right? Does the CIA want to bring down the Covenant or not?"
"I've asked. Repeatedly. They won't do it. Marshall is working on a project of higher importance."
"I'dve thought you'd be of highest priority. But I'm not the CIA. Why work for people who so easily discard you?"
She shot him a look of barely contained fury and grief. "Irina Derevko gave you up to save a man she pretended to love for over ten years. Sloane condemned your lover to someone else's body and boyfriend. The Covenant sprang you from the CIA to steal your inheritance. Don't talk to me about employers. We're capable people, Sark. We'll destroy the Covenant another way."
She resumed staring at her computer screen and didn't speak to him again for the rest of the evening. He noted that she still refused to acknowledge that Derevko was her mother, the man was her father, that Allison killed her friend, Francie, and almost killed her friend, Will. At least she was warming up. Although, now that he was on the receiving end of her temper again, he almost wished he hadn't fired her up. He refrained from sharing his thoughts and retreated to his quarters.
Instead, Sark suggested they start from the bottom. Of course, it was nearly impossible to track all the disparate businesses funneling into the Covenant. The night clubs, bars, arms and drug dealers were usually run cash-only and without the convenience of 10-Ks and PNL statements. It was futile to shut each individual operation down. If they cut off one source, two more would spring up in its place. They decided to leave the small operations alone and go after the ones which would hurt the Covenant the most.
Which brought them to where they were tonight.
Julia (He had taken to calling her that in his mind to distinguish her from Sydney. And even though Julia insisted that Sydney was gone, he chose to believe that she was merely in hiding.) was currently inside a Covenant warehouse. A Covenant warehouse with exactly one Ukranian nuclear warhead.
"Eurydice, we only have seventeen minutes left before we must leave for our day job."
"Copy that, Orpheus. I've deactivated and removed the core. I'll be out in five."
Chasing down lead after lead invariably left them limited time to carry out their Covenant assignments - which was just fine with him. That way, he could take on more and more of the wet work and leave the relatively death-free sleuthing to Julia. She didn't need his protection, of course. She could more than take care of herself. But now that he knew she was still Sydney deep inside, it disquieted him to see her end lives with such callous disregard. More than once, he wondered what the Covenant had done to her.
At any rate, tonight was one of the rare times when they were actually doing missions together. Mostly, they just went the divide and conquer route.
"Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!"
"Talk to me Eurydice! What's going on?"
"I need you to open the back door stat!"
A blur of hot pink and blonde hair, combat boots and a lead-reinforced backpack barreled towards the beige van. Six uniformed guards and their very impressive guns sprayed bullets down after her. Sark hastened to open the door just in time as Julia vaulted through, limbs flailing.
"Go, go, go!"
Julia's frantic cursing and jagged breathing brooked no argument. He gunned the gas pedal and screeched out the alleyway.
"What the hell happened? Are you hurt? Did they see your face?"
"I ran into some company on the way out. I doubt they've noticed the missing core already. Hopefully, they'll just think I'm a petty thief. And I'm fine."
"Did they see your face?"
"I don't know."
"If they saw your face, Julia, we have a problem."
"I know that, Sark. I'm not stupid."
"Well, it was stupid to get made."
"Unfortunate. Not stupid. Very big difference. Besides, you were supposed to be watching my back!"
"We only had visuals for the outside, Julia. I can't warn you about things I can't see. That's what your training is for."
She stared out the window, hunched over in her seat and whispered, "I'm sorry."
"It's done. Get your head back in the game. We have one more op and then we're done for the day."
With that, she leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and stole what rest she could.
***18 HOURS LATER***
"Julia, Cole wants to see us tomorrow."
"Do you think he suspects?"
"I guess we'll find out."
***TBC***