The tension in the large meeting room was thick and heated as if lightning would strike and ignite into an uncontrollable inferno if it were broken. No one wanted to speak.

We were all perched around the room in various positions, staring at the screen and sneaking not so secret glances at one another. I was leaning against the dark oak table in the center of the room, fidgeting with a pen in my hand. Mason was sprawled out on the floor, half under the table. Serena had draped herself in a chair in the back of the room, and Zoe stood by the screen that displayed the official report with her arms crossed over her chest. The only sounds were the clock on the wall and the hum of the computers and the faint patter of rain from outside.

"What are the charges?", Mason groused from the ground, breaking the silence. Dropping my chin to my chest, I groaned quietly. I had preferred the silence for thinking.

He glared at me, thoroughly annoyed, and crossed his arms, so I poked his shoulder with my foot. Before he could retaliate, I boosted myself up and laid on the table. Mason would go to the gym to blow off his frustration like he always did, and as fun as it was to rile him up, I'd rather not have a broken jaw. Mason had a rather strong right hook. I scooted to the middle of the table and let my head hang off the edge so I could still see the room and the other occupants.

"First-degree murder, premeditated. Conspiracy, second degree. Um... various weapons charges and a couple of drug charges.", Zoe trailed off, looking between the screen and us for our reactions while twirling her inky hair around her finger, her nervous habit. I suspected she was expecting a violent reaction from one of, if not more of us.

Serena's expression twitched as she tried to keep a frown from crossing her face. She often over thought things like this and it would irritate her for the rest of the day. For me, that meant we would have a long talk later that night, probably into the morning and at some point, including liquor, not that I minded. I rolled off the table, quietly walked over and sat in her lap to bring her out of her mind. After a moment, she recognized the action by grabbing my hand and weaving our fingers together. The contact grounded both of us firmly in reality.

"Well, what sentence does that get?"

"Under English law, first-degree murder is a life sentence already.", Mason interjected, still trying to maintain all points of contact with the floor.

"Can you pull up the map of London we have?", I asked as my fingers toyed with Serena's hair. Zoe lightly tapped something into her computer and turned to the screen as the machine pulled it up. "Whereabouts were they found?"

Over the years, as I had expanded my hidden empire to other countries, I'd draw up maps of each country and label what groups and organizations I had at my disposal for whatever I needed, whenever I needed. In this case, the person who provided the drug had been a member of one of the local gangs.

"Dmitri said one of the operatives was caught drunk driving while smuggling ten bags of cocaine and two rifles outside of Brentford. He said they opened an investigation into it and traced it back a bit."

"What were they supposed to be doing?", Mason asked, staring blankly at the ceiling and tapping his fingers quietly against the shaggy carpeted floor. I suspected he was thinking about Max. Having been in the army, Mason was not one to take dereliction of duty lightly.

"Said something about assassination of a member of Parliament for a key vote last time I contacted him.", I said, shaking my head, feeling Serena lean into my hand. "He said he paid for a staff member to carry it out, but the night after, one operative got caught with drugs and weapons."

"It was the operative who oversaw the whole thing. He apparently confessed, which in turn got the provider of the drug and the staff member arrested.", Zoe added. The silence blanketed over the room again as three pairs of eyes darted at each other and then back to me, waiting for instruction.

"Idiots, all of them. Honestly, wonder why we hire people like that.", I muttered quietly, just loud enough for Serena to hear, before addressing all of them. "I think it's time for an intervention. We need to see Dmitri. It seems low level, but we need details.", I shrugged, dropping my hand from Serena's hair and regarding them with expectation. This wasn't the first time this had happened to me. Most of the time, we operated smoothly behind the scenes, but every now and again, someone slipped up, someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The possibility of it all crashing down was very real when it did happen. People who got in the way or held operations up had to be terminated from employment, in the most permanent way. "Mason, you're coming with me. Get your guns ready, we're leaving immediately and send those jobs to someone else. Zoe, stay here and tell our pilot we're on the way. You too, Serena."

Mason offered a short nod of acknowledgment, rolling over and pushing himself up wearily before walking out of the room. Zoe turned her attention back to her computer to notify our pilot that we would be departing soon. I silently looked down at Serena and tangled my fingers in her hair again.

"I guess that means you have to go.", she sighed, looking up, a dejected look crossing her face for a second before an obviously forced, lazy smile was put up in its place. I nodded. "N'what'd you want me to do?", she murmured softly, eyes closed. I climbed off her lap and kissed her forehead.

"Keep things running like you always do.", I chuckled, keeping her hand folded in mine as I pulled her up. Serena and Mason were my right-hand people. If I had to go somewhere or was somehow otherwise incapacitated, they would take over until I returned.

------------------------------------------------------------------

The weather was cloudy and windy as we climbed out of the car on the wet tarmac in front of the jet hanger. There was also a bit of a chill in the air as a gust swept around us. Mason and I were on our way to London while Serena and Zoe were staying behind to keep things running. Mason loaded his guns into the plane sitting by the hanger as I gave Serena a quick kiss goodbye as a promise of a return.

"Don't go drinking alone, now, hear me? I'll call you when we land.", I joked, cupping her face. I felt a grin pull on my lips when I saw her chuckle softly, her face breaking from the melancholic shadow that had clouded her expression since we departed the meeting room.

"Alright, alright. But I'm breaking out your bourbon."

"There's some already open. Cabinet to the right of the fridge.", I conceded, holding back another laugh. Her smile was one I'd keep in mind during the trip because anytime we called after tonight would be business related.

"You might want to get going if you're gonna make it before midnight.", she smirked.

"But that's when I thrive and you know it.", I whined, pulling away and giving her a fake pout. Serena huffed playfully, rolling her eyes and nudging me towards the plane. I grinned at her as I walked over to Zoe. Zoe was there finalizing details with the pilot and setting up accommodations for when we arrived, tapping away at her tablet.

"Everything is ready, Dmitri will have someone waiting at the airport.", she told me. I nodded and gave her a quick hug as thanks. Mason and Serena gave each other their goodbyes before Mason jogged over.

"Ready?"

"Let's get this show on the road."

Serena and Zoe slid back into the car that pulled away once the doors closed. I gestured for Mason to board the plane first, following him into the nicely furnished cabin. Mason flopped himself onto the pale leather couch before adjusting himself for the seven-hour flight, turning on his overhead air vent. I walked over to the minibar and opened the cabinet.

"Want a drink?"

"Just water."

I tossed him a bottle of water from the fridge and pulled a bottle of vintage red wine from the cabinet. Pouring a small glass, I settled at the table across from him for takeoff. I plugged my headphones into my phone, relaxing as the clarinet of Benny Goodman struck up the opening to Why Don't You Do Right. Swing was always calming to me, it released tension, to lose myself in the music. It chased away the most pressing issues for a short while with a fun rhythm.

I was lost in the music for who knows how long, occasionally sipping on the dark red in my glass. When I snuck a glance over, Mason was playing Candy Crush. Ah, well, assassins get bored too, I guess.

After another short while, after the track had changed a few more times, a pack of airline pretzels smacked me in the cheek. Quickly pausing the music and sliding of the headphones, I hissed at Mason.

"What the hell do you want?"

"How long are we going to be there? Are we staying just to sort this out, or are you gonna handle some other people too?", he asked, completely ignoring my snarl.

I hadn't thought out how long we were staying for. I leaned back in my chair, tilting my head back and staring at the ceiling.

"I mean, I had planned for sorting this out, but if there's time, it would be nice to be able to handle some other things. It's been a while since I worked in another country.", I shrugged, sliding my headphones back on. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Mason sit for a moment processing, before getting out his rifles and proceeding to clean them for three out of the seven hours.