I am no longer trying to survive
I believe that life is a prize
But to live doesn't mean you're alive
Don't worry 'bout me and who I fire
I get what I desire, it's my empire
And yes I call the shots, I am the umpire  

Nicki Minaj Ft. Drake- Moment 4 Life

***

I switched my hair to the side as I examined it in the small mirror.  

It was no longer all jet black, dark enough to make my pale skin turn me into a vampire on sight. It now had dark purple highlights that were difficulty placed into my hair. It was permanent and brought out my uniqueness while still giving me a strong look. Perfect for an agent.

The mirror was slightly tilted so I could see the top of my head where the purple disappeared into the roots of my hair like it was grown.  If you told me I'd be admiring my hair two months ago, I'd slap you in the face and escort you to the hospital myself after a bunch of hits.

"How does it look?" I asked Aiden who had crept up behind me humming AC/DC's Highway to Hell. I looked up and snapped the compact shut, smiling slightly as I rolled the chair around to face him. 

He popped a slightly green bubble and chomped loudly while I glared at him in discomfort. Manners were beneath him. He shrugged automatically once his eyes wandered to my hair. "It's nice, I suppose."

Aiden jumped into the chair beside me and rolled around a bit while I sorted through the mess of files on the table in front of us. We had no information on Hoffman's whereabouts or where she was. Our mission was to take her out because "anything in her hands is not good news for the rest of the world" apparently.

I handed Aiden a few files and tossed through some before logging onto the computer lazily, watching the desktop load. After a few minutes, Aiden spoke up. "Okay, I have a list of known acquaintances or whatever. They probably work for her or with her. She probably isn't a solo contractor."

I nodded absentmindedly, an idea blooming through my head as I clicked. "Read the names."

"Helena Huisman. Lien Boon. Aline Smits. Claire Janssen. Marien van der Meer. Wow that's quite a mouthful." Aiden chuckled, continuing slowly. "Three males. Nick Visser. Jasper Blank and Felix Chugainov. They're all Dutch, except for that last one. He's the most frequent. The last one's-"

"Russian. 28. Loves Oreos and had a terrible grade average. Was a school dropout. Has a Star-Bolt motorcycle and a German Sheppard as a pet. He's had six relationships over the past eight months. He also has an obsession with Flat Stanley and has an addiction to social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram," I said, scrolling down Felix's Facebook page as Renata Jiganov. I spared a glance at Aiden who had now gotten up to peek at what I was doing. "I created a fake Facebook profile and sent him a friend request. He must be really stupid because he accepted it three seconds after I told him I was Russian through convos."

I smirked as I signed up on Instagram with the same fake information and followed him. A new notification alerted me to the fact that he'd followed me too. I laughed and spared a few minutes to Photoshop some photos and put them on Instagram. 

Aiden had already gotten a laptop and was surfing Facebook with the same account I had logged on with. He looked up after a few moments of me surfing Felix's pictures of his motorcycles and I shifted my gaze on the screen to him where he was watching me intently, searching me for something. I waved a hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his daze. "Yeah, sorry. He lives in London. Most of his Facebook friends do. He hasn't put his location, so he's partly smart. Or part of a group that's smart enough to give out death threats."

I cracked a grin and returned back to the computer where I instantly immersed myself in his photos. He certainly didn't look 28. He was pudgy and had extremely pale skin just like mine. He was short, and covered with exotic tattoos in bright colors that swirled up, disappearing into the sleeves of his shirts. He had a scarily chubby face that could only be described as a baby face. 

I looked through the photos until one caught my eye. It was Felix grinning at the camera, most probably using a selfie stick. In the background, a blurry Alina Finn was walking past in a rush. My heart swelled as I snapped my fingers yelling, "Got it."

Aiden reached over and shoved my chair over so he could access the computer freely. My chair swirled across the room over to the nearest wall where I pushed off against it once I was in range and bumped Aiden's chair out of the way to the computer. He huffed, grabbed a couple of papers and left the room mumbling about needing coffee to put up with me.

I steadied myself with one hand and proceeded to nonchalantly scroll through the page once again, looking for clues to where their operation base could be. Once I reached a month earlier I managed to find a post that gave me an idea of where he was hiding out.

"Thompson!"

He walked into the room pinching the bridge of his nose, the doors sliding shut behind him while he held a steaming cup of coffee in the other. "What is it now Z?"

"I found Felix's location and don't call me that," I said, my voice softening at the edges. "If we get to him, we'll get the location of the other's out of him. Felix is definitely working for TrianOut.  Look what I found."

I moved the screen toward him and watched as his face morphed into surprise. "Isn't that the daughter of-"

"The director of TrianOut? Yeah."

"I was going to say your ex-trainer but yes, that too." He shrugged and leaned against my chair, placing the coffee on the table and clasped his hands on my head.  I mentally huffed and proceeded to elbow Aiden in the stomach.

He winced, stumbling a few steps back as the corners of my mouth lifted and satisfaction ran through my veins. 

He finally propped himself into his previous seat, sending me a death glare that I met with dull eyes and a relaxed posture. Truthfully, it gave me the chills but Aiden was my match in small competitions like this. We both turned our gaze toward the computer as it made a few noises, probably reacting to the fact that no one updated computer software in 553 anymore.

"So Felix with TrianOut," Aiden said. "Does this mean Hoffman as well?" 

I shrugged and pulled out my laptop, bypassing the 553 security login for the WiFi and pulling up the pages I had opened on the other computer. I downloaded the picture I had found and put it through the edit software so I could clear up the building in the right corner and zoom in. We both looked at each other, out mouths curling up at the corners. It could be just be a warehouse, but we both had a hunch.

Aiden placed his laptop in his lap and started something up. "I'll track the warehouse location."

"Look in London," I told him when I saw the location attached to the picture.

"Which one," he joked, rolling his eyes when I gave him a look. "Okay, we've got a location."

"Forward it to Clifton and tell him we've found a lead and we're following it," I told him, gathering everything and balancing it under my arms. "What do you say to a mission under the stars?"

Aiden snorted, making no move to start packing up. "We just got back from a mission. Heck yeah."

***

I swore when another one of the loose twigs on the tree branch I was on dug into my skin. I turned around and pulled it out with force, shoving it into the nest of leaves a family of birds probably abandoned. I rested the sniper on my shoulder once again and proceeded to swap the fly that had decided to buzz around me out of the air. 

Aiden was on the opposite side of the building probably on the roof of the abandoned building at the back of the warehouse we were aiming at. Felix had some man power if he didn't want to be found.

I aimed once I spotted the apparent guards patrolling the walls. They stiffly roamed around the perimeter, not bothering to point their guns forward. I didn't blame them, they probably had seen no action as guards in over five years. It's not our fault that they made the warehouse that hard to find.

I sighed as I released the trigger and nailed the head shots. The second guard came to the side of the building and even in the midnight black I could see his eyes widen immensely. I took him out once he reached for his radio and changed my position so I could see the front space of the building. I pressed a finger to my ear piece and flipped it on. "I took out the two guards on the right side. Copy?"

"Roger that. It looks like there are only five patrolling. I took out the last three. I'll keep an eye out," Aiden said, his voice slightly wavering as static filled the comm, probably 553 trying to tap back into our earpieces so they could communicate with us. A buzzing noise momentarily filled the line, fading slowly, alerting me to a bullet being released on Aiden's end. "Never mind, six. I took out four now. Ha. Beat that Ryder."

"Stop being so competitive Thompson," I hissed, aware of his mood swings. Whenever his mood changed so would how he referred to me. Ryder, Zee or Amber.

I turned my gaze just in time to see another five others enter the roof of the warehouse. I aimed, but put the sniper down once I recognized each of their faces. "Thompson, do not engage. I repeat, do not engage. We've got a prob-"

"Sh- Amber! Check your 9 o clock," Aiden said, swearing a couple of times as I reluctantly shifted my gaze to the front of the warehouse where trucks had pulled up, unnoticed by me. My eyes squinted at the writing on the trucks in the dark until I let out a loose puff of air. 

"Driehoek Out," I whispered, a Dutch accent slipping out at the words. 

Better known as Triangle Out, or TrianOut, in English. 

***

A/N: School starts soon. That is all I have to say.