Jocelyn was having an extremely rough day. She was frustrated and tired both of those emotions due to her Introduction to Computer Science class. Firstly, her insomnia seemed to be acting up so she got little sleep the night before and for whatever reason her program wasn't working the way it was supposed to and she spent all of the class trying to fix it. She had decided to go to her professor's visiting hours to see if she could at least get some insight as to why this code was unsuccessful. Unfortunately the clarity did not come to her easily and she left her professor's office feeling dejected. She had left the office around 6:20 just as New York City was starting to transition to night. Jocelyn tried to avoid walking at night as much as one could so she supposed right before sunset was a compromise.

She made the chilly trudge back to her apartment, pulling her jacket tighter around her as the chilly fall air whipped around her. The apartment she resided in was nice enough for someone who lived off of inheritance money and scholarships without a roommate.

As if to add on to her increasingly vexatious day, her headphones died in the middle of the music she was listening to. She looked around her, somehow just now noticing no one was around. Her eyebrows furrowed finding that no one was around a bit weird but either way she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. She swung her bag around so that it was in front of her. She unzipped her backpack, opening it so that she could dig through it for her extra pair of earbuds. 

One could imagine her surprise when she heard the clatter of metal hitting pavement. She looked down at her feet, seeing a small black flash drive. She looked up at the sky wondering where this small piece of metal could have came from. Only clouds greeted her gaze and she slowly picked up the flash drive and inspected it. One would assume that something as small as a flash drive would break when it hit the pavement but that did not seem to be the case except for a small scratch on one of the sides. She hoped maybe a name would be written on it or something that indicated an owner. That also did not seem to be the case. So Jocelyn in her sleep-deprived state shrugged and put the flash drive into her backpack. She dug out her earbuds and turned on music once more and headed down the street.

Angus stood in a dark room with his partner, Marley, standing next to him, both of them had their guns raised ready to shoot any movement. As they crept into the room Marley shifted to stand back-to-back with Angus. Both their eyes flitting around the room for movement. Small windows let in the escaping light from the New York sunset. The room was totally dark and seemed to be empty. The building they were in seemed to be older and prone to creaking floorboards and drafts. 

The only sound breaking the silence was the rattling of the small windows whenever the wind would blow against them. Angus strained his ears listening for something. When another gust of wind rattled the windows especially loud, Angus heard a floorboard creak. His gaze and gun snapped toward the sound as someone in the shadows ran for the door. The person threw the door open and made a sharp right. 

In a blur, Angus took off towards the door, assuming Marley was on his heels. Angus took a right using the brown doorframe to help him make his turn. He noticed the stairs before his feet met them. He looked up the winding stairs and saw black boots taking them three steps at a time. Angus aimed and shot, the bullets found home in the wood and he started his ascent. He took the stairs four at a time, trying desperately to catch up. He heard the thundering of Marley behind him or perhaps that was the sound of his heart beating in his ears. 

In that moment, Angus felt alive. He reveled in the rush of adrenaline, the way his mind stopped running a million miles an hour when a chase like this happened. Unfortunately, he couldn't bask in the feeling much longer because he was met with a door leading to a rooftop. He barreled through the door and was immediately brought back to his senses with a blast of cold fall air. His gun was raised the moment after he stepped through the threshold. His chest heaved, trying to accommodate to the running he just did, however that did not affect his aim. The gun stayed in place as he stared the perpetrator down. 

Marley was at his side in a second, his stance mirrored. It was only then did Angus fully take in the person in front of him. A girl, around the same age as him, she had curly brownish-black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. She was short probably around 5'4 if he had to guess. One thing that stood out to him was her eyes. Heterochromia, one of her eyes was a stark emerald green, the other a light brown, almost bordering on haze. Her fist was balled as if she was holding something. Her stance was wide and her knees slightly bent like she was getting ready for a fight. There wasn't a gun or weapon actively in her hands, Angus counted that as a win. 

Marley was the first to speak, he commanded, "Stand down and give us the flash drive."

Angus briefly recalled everything they had been debriefed about said flash drive. He recalled the picture of it he saw only a couple days ago, it was small, black and unassuming. He could only imagine what was in it that was so important. 

The girl's mouth quirked as if she found what Marley said amusing. The flash of emotion was brief and her face turned back to stony, "No."

Angus opened his mouth to reply when she rushed them. Her steps were light and quiet and it seemed a knife appeared in her hand. Angus dodged left as Marley went right, the pair parted and turned on her. Based on the red line growing on Marley's arm it seemed she cut him. He seemed unaffected so Angus assumed it wasn't deep. 

She ran at only Angus this time and knocked the gun out of his hand. He blocked a knee to the stomach with his leg and managed to elbow her before Marley grabbed her by the collar and threw her back. The flash drive had disappeared from her hand and with a quick scan of the roof he saw it only a few feet away from the girl. As she got up, Angus made eye contact with Marley and then looked at the flash drive, hoping that conveyed the message he wanted to get across. Marley unsheathed a knife from his waistband and went at the girl. Angus bolted for the small black piece of metal that seemed to blend in with the rooftop. He dove for it and enclosed the flash drive with his hand and made it back up to his feet. 

When Angus looked up Marley was on the ground and a foot connected with his chest and he fell backwards into a wall. His hand released the flash drive, but he didn't allow this girl to immediately go for it and he tackled her. He only felt a little guilt as his fist connected with her nose, breaking it. She pushed him off of her to her left and sent a high kick that connected with his jaw. Angus could feel the bruise already forming and he laid there for a second longer than he needed to, knowing Marley could fight her for a minute. 

Marley and her were locked in a knife fight, both of them swinging. Angus happened to notice the difference between them, Marley had an almost robotic way of fighting, each movement calculated and efficient while the girl had an air of gracefulness and she fought like she had an audience, like she was a performer. Marley and her were both low to the ground, basically on their knees as she went to stab him, he moved to the side and caught her arm. He went to stab her but she grabbed his arm as well. She used the momentum to roll over his arm and on the other side of him. He still had a hold of her wrists and as she raised to her knees she wrenched the hand with her knife out of his grip and threw it up in the air. She tore her other hand out of his and grabbed the knife midair with the correct grip and went to go stab him. Before the knife could make contact with Marley's skin, Angus landed a kick to her exposed gut and she fell backwards coughing.

Angus rushed over to where the flash drive was and picked it up, it happened to land right near the edge, his back to the two. He breathed heavily and turned around only to find both Marley and the girl running at him. It was the girl's turn to tackle Angus and they fell to the ground. He held his hand out of her reach and she scratched him for the item. His hand was barely over the edge and in his mind all he could repeat to himself was, Do not drop it. Do not drop it.

He wasn't going to drop it until the girl elbowed his windpipe and out of pure shock his hand opened and the flash drive fell. He watched in horror as the small black item made it's decent. He vaguely felt the girl push herself off of him and take off running but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the ledge. He heard Marley tell him the girl was gone.

He sighed and dropped his forehead to the rooftop and muttered, "Shit."