Aleksandra was walking through the busy main square of Covent Gardens, keeping her target in sight. The early autumn air was crisp, but she was warm in her black trench coat, thanks to the brisk walk. The young man ahead of her had his shoulders hunched under an oversized grey hoodie, but he was tall enough that his black hair was visible over the crowd of passers-by.

"The target is entering the street market. Visibility limited. I'm following," Aleksandra said, gently touching an earpiece covered by her short brown hair.

"I'm at the northern side of the market, and I can confirm he's coming this way," said a low male voice. "I'll follow him from here."

"Do that, Toni," answered another, a gentle female voice suited for running a radio station. "But please keep tabs on him too, Aleks. We need you in case the target uses his skills." There was a pause, and then in a teasing tone, the voice added. "Or if Toni botches a subtle target's tailing again."

An indignant huff came from an earpiece, and Aleksandra smiled, imagining her brother's scowling face. Antoni might be one of the top agents in their year, but being stealthy and secretive was not his pair of shoes.

"Don't worry, brother dear," she said, moving past a family blocking the whole pathway, trying to get their screaming kid to leave the colourful stall full of toys. The target was further away now, but she could still see him. "I'm here to save the day if you screw up again."

"You never let me forget that one mission, will you?" asked Toni's with an exasperated sigh.

"Not a chance!" The laughter in the earpiece sounded like delicate silver bells. It suited the owner very well, thought Aleks. Yuliya was a petite blonde girl, so lovely that Aleks often caught herself staring at her with jealousy. But she was in the team due to her talents, not her looks, just as everyone else.

"Less joking around and more work, agents," a gruff male voice growled, and Aleks instinctively straightened her back. It was easy to forget that their mission supervisor was always watching and evaluating all of them.

"The target left the market. I'm tailing him now," Toni announced in a business-like voice.

"I'll keep my distance from you both for now," Aleks chipped in when she finally left the crowd of people browsing little merchant stalls. She moved swiftly to the opposite side of James Street and kept close to the shaded walls of the old buildings. It gave her a better view of both their target and Antoni.

For a few minutes, they followed in silence. Aleks watched the black-haired man like a hawk, ignoring the crowds of laughing and talking people around her. She couldn't help but notice that his aura had changed from its usual contented green to sickly yellow. He looked around and started walking faster. Aleks turned to look at her brother, who kept barely a couple of meters behind their target.

"Damn you, Toni!" she hissed to her earpiece. "I told you to keep your distance. The target has possibly noticed you already. He got all nervous all of a sudden."

"I was being cautious! I'm sure it was not me─"

"She's right, Toni," Yuliya interrupted him. "The target passed Covent Garden station and turned to Long Acre. It's quite possible he spotted you and wants to check if you are following him. Wait a bit before you proceed further."

Antoni cursed under his breath but stopped at the underground entrance, pretending to look at the posters on the wall. Aleks smiled and passed him, following the target. There were not many things she could do better than her twin, but inconspicuously tailing people was one of them.

Even though they shared the same genes, they looked very different. The same facial features that made Antoni handsome, with his square jaw, straight nose and prominent brows, on Aleks' feminine face looked hopelessly average. So much, in fact, that while people often stared admiringly at her brother, they never gave her a second glance. She often heard she had one of those faces that are so unimpressive that most people looked right through her.

It bothered her on many levels, of course, but she was a professional, so as it was convenient for surveillance purposes, she was grateful for that asset. The truth was the black-haired guy was not just a random target.

He was her own find.

They used to take the tube at the same time in the morning. Diego, as that was his name, was getting in at Miles End and often sat at the same coach she did. He caught her attention right away, not only because he was cute, with his light brown skin, a shock of black hair and glasses that often slid down his nose.

Aleks couldn't take her eyes off him because, unlike the other passengers, his aura was glowing brilliantly, making the others seems like their colours were washed off as if they had been laundered one too many times.

That meant he was one of the Gifted, just like Aleks and Antoni.

At first, she did nothing, just observed him discreetly from her seat, and in the many weeks that passed since she noticed him, he never looked at her for longer than a fraction of a second. She wasn't bothered by it, as she was already used to it. Aleks would never muster the courage to chat up someone so cute herself, so there was no point in agonising that she was practically invisible to guys like him. But with the news of Gifted disappearing from the streets of London, she decided that it was time to let the agency know about her fellow commuter.

The Gifted owned extraordinary talents, ones that weren't natural. At this moment, the existence of such folks was not public knowledge. The government was aware of them, obviously, and they even founded a special department in their Secret Services Agency to discover and help such and make sure they could control their often dangerous abilities. The fact that most of those Gifted stayed in the agency to work as a special task force supporting the police was an extra benefit.

There was no obligation for anyone to seek Gifted Special Ops, or GSO for short, primarily because most people had no idea such an institution existed. But the agency kept its own register of all Gifted individuals, even if they didn't wish to be part of the bureau.

The thing with superpowers was that you could use them to do either good or bad things. Not everyone shared the same moral code, and crimes committed by the Gifted had been on the rise for the last couple of years.

"I'm moving on  with tailing now." Antoni's voice rang in her earpiece, interrupting Aleks' musings. She turned discreetly to look at him and sighed. Once again, he walked too fast, purposefully, and focused on his target.

Antoni was not as tall as the man they were following, but he had broader shoulders and a more muscular posture. When people looked at him, they often took him for some professional athlete, which wasn't far from the truth. He always had a penchant for sports and being active. But even though it was a great asset for working as a field agent, at the same time, it drew attention to him on the street.

"Slow down, Lightning McQueen, it's not a race," Aleks snarked.

"Chill out, sis. I've got this."

"You said the same the last time."

"But now I mean it. Yuliya, can you see him too? Any idea where is he heading?"

"Yep, he passed several CCTV cameras already," the sweet voice replied. "He does seem nervous, though, so be careful not to startle him again, Toni. I think he's probably heading for Leicester Square station."

"I think so, too," Aleks agreed, sidestepping a group of giggling girls. "He usually takes the tube from Covent Gardens, but if he wanted to see if someone was following him, it would make sense to go for the next station." She could still see his aura glowing a disturbed yellow far ahead of her and Antoni.

"And you were right, Aleks. He is cute," Yuliya added playfully. "Is he Spanish?"

Aleks' cheeks burned. "Brazillian," she corrected. "And I didn't─"

"You think that guy is cute?" came the amused answer from Toni. "Isn't he a bit too nerdy? Wow, sis, is that your type?"

"Shut up, Antoś!" Aleks hissed, using his baby pet name because she knew he hated it.

"I told you not to call me that!"

Before Aleks could respond, a glimmer of orange caught her attention, and she cursed. "Toni, back off. The target must have noticed you because he's in a full-blown panic now and ready to bolt any second!"

"I─" Toni cursed. "I lost him. I looked straight at him, and then he just... disappeared."

"I confirm," Yuliya chipped in. "I had him on the camera, and the next second he was gone without a trace."

"I can still see his aura. He's running toward the station. I'm pursuing," Aleks uttered and started running, ignoring the protests of people she shoved aside.

"Toni, you're off the case," the gruff voice growled. "Back off now."

"But Sir! I─"

"I said back off, boy. Aleks, get to the target. You are authorised to make contact. I just got a report that a deviant was spotted in the area. If that kid used his power, he would light himself up like a lantern for them. Make sure we get to him first."

"On it, sir!" Aleks replied, crossing the busy street and raising her hand in a hasty apology at a honking black cab. "He's descending into the station; I should be able to catch him up before he enters the tube."

Aleks rushed down the stairs just in time to see the orange aura stopping at the gates long enough for a person to tap the Oyster card*, and she almost laughed. Some people were so honest that even while invisible and chased by an unknown threat, they still stopped to pay for the tube. Thanks to that, she almost caught up to him and hastily tapped her phone at the gate. If she got stopped by security, it would take more time to explain than the couple of seconds she spent to pay.

The target was running down the stairs toward the Piccadilly line platform, and she followed, trying hard to avoid bumping into people, which was hard on the busy station. As they neared the tube stop, she felt a rush of air and a shriek of the train's brakes, and she cursed.

If the train was just at the station, the target might lose her if the doors closed right behind him. She gritted her teeth and sped up, taking three steps at a time on the escalator, ignoring the scowling people around her. The black-haired man jumped into the train as her feet hit the tiled floor of the platform, and the shrill beep announced the departure.

Aleks dashed forward desperately as the door started to close, but she knew she was too far away.

But before the entry closed, another woman dressed in a fancy business suit and high heels jumped into the carriage, blocking the door and causing them to open again. Aleks grinned and entered right after her, breathing heavily from her mad dash. The woman looked back at her and smiled.

"We made it! I thought, surely, we would miss this one!"

"Yes, lucky us." Aleks nodded and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. The train started again, emitting a low hum, and she let herself catch a break to even her breathing. She could see the brilliant orange aura at the end of the carriage slowly turning into pale yellow. The target thought he had escaped his pursuers.

When she stopped heaving, Aleks slowly moved to the end of the carriage. It wasn't very crowded here, so the invisible man could take his spot without bumping into anyone and causing further confusion. She took her phone from her pocket and approached the glowing aura looking at where she knew his face was.

"Excuse me, sir. I think you dropped it."

"It's not─" a voice replied reflexively and then stopped as realisation dawned on him. Aleks stood there motionless, still looking where his face should be. "You... How... You shouldn't be able to see me."

Aleks smiled. "Yet here I am. We need to talk."

Who would have thought she would get to chat with this cute guy?

word count: 2141

*Oyster card is a commute card in London that you can use on tube and buses in and around the city.