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----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
San Francisco, USA
It was dark in the alleyway, after all it was nighttime, but Agent Anna Navarre did not need light to see her targets: a group of armed criminals gathered on a square ahead. The downside was, once she exited the alley, she would be out there in the open with nowhere to hide. Luckily for her, the group was fairly small – one, two, three… five, six, seven, eight bogeys in total. Eight more kills for her kill count, then. No hostages to worry about on this mission, so the UNATCO agents would be able to shoot indiscriminately – and they were trained, unlike their opponents.A single whispered command word, and Anna’s silhouette shimmered and disappeared. Quick footsteps brought her out into the square and she squeezed the trigger. One man down. When his friends spread out in panic, waving arms and weapons around, she simply dived right in the middle of the chaos, looking for gaps so that she was able to maneuver around to get behind her targets.A perfect flanking maneuver, since a moment later, Agent Gunther Hermann charged in from the same alleyway she entered from. Unlike her, Gunther was not cloaked – no cloak would work to obscure his huge form without expending too much energy. But he did not need to fear bullets, large portions of his body being protected by subdermal ballistic armor. Rat-tat-tat went his machine gun, moving down two men before they could return fire.The remaining men spread out even further, taking cover behind streetlamps, greenery and other fixtures and firing their own weapons wildly. Most bullets missed Anna’s assigned partner, as expected, and those that did make contact simply pinged off his augmentations.‘Shit! That cop is augmented!’ shouted one of the men.‘Augmented indeed!’ taunted Gunther, flexing his arm for a moment before letting loose more bullets.Anna rolled her eyes at the theatrics.‘Ain’t getting paid enough to fight a f’cking ogre!’ yelled another of their opponents, and began to retreat.The movement put him straight in Navarre’s line of sight. Squeezing the trigger was an automatic reaction. Her aim aided by an augmented right eye was not quite right this time though, and instead of hitting the man’s head her bullet only went into his shoulder. Before he could do more than grunt, she shot him again and he went down.The sound however caught the attention of the others and Navarre could see the remaining criminals looking around trying to pinpoint her location. Even dumb as they probably were, they realized the huge man couldn’t have been the one to kill their friend. She started moving, changing positions faster than ordinary men could due to her augmented legs.Her fellow agent used their distraction to deadly effect, taking down one man and severely injuring another to the point that he dropped his gun and pressed his back against the wall, screaming loudly for mercy. Hermann therefore ignored him and turned to target another.Anna decided to join his side, so in order to do it as quickly as possible, she simply went straight through the middle of the square, knowing that the criminals couldn’t see her and anyway, they were distracted by Gunther. It seemed like a good plan, like the hundreds of times they did it…Until her cloak failed. It simply switched off mid-movement, revealing her position at the worst possible moment. She was flanked by two men at point blank range, and before she could do more than fire off one shot – which did not hit anything worth talking of – they started shooting. Obviously, she was a much more tempting target than the other agent. She did not even feel the pain when she fell, even though the logical part of Anna’s brain knew they just put a lot of holes in her.‘Navarre!’ Hermann’s voice booming her name was the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness.------------------Anna Navarre came to and immediately recognized the sterile white of the UNATCO medbay ceiling and the frowning face of Jaime Reyes, the medic. The events were a bit of a blur in her mind – she definitely lost a lot of blood, enough to alarm Agent Hermann into carrying her – and enough for her to actually let herself be carried. She winced as she remembered the feeling of her wounds being jostled, the fact that she lost perception of time.But right now she felt fine, so she waved off Reyes trying to stop her from sitting up.‘I’m fine, Jaime. Do I really need to stay here?’ she complained while slowly examining herself.No visible wounds, check. No dizziness, check. No pain, check. Really, nothing for Reyes to do – and it seemed that he arrived at the same conclusion that she did, because he shook his head in the negative.‘It might be prudent for you to go home now if you don’t want to stay the night in the medbay. It’s already dark and... well. You know where you live and what it’s like at this time of the day. I’ll call for Gunther to escort you home, in fact. I know you can deal with any thugs that might try to – ‘ a minute pause – ‘rob you, but they don’t, and I’d rather not see you here tomorrow.’ Here, Jaime winked.Anna’s mouth did not even twitch. She never had much of a sense of humor.‘My place’s closer, and less bandits’ said Hermann’s voice, and she looked up to see him standing in the doorway. Finding no fault in his logic, she nodded.Reyes shrugged, completely unsurprised and not worried at all, as they left the medbay side by side.--------------They did indeed end up walking to Hermann’s flat. As expected, nobody bothered them. If there were any thugs out at this time of the night, they wouldn’t dare take on a large, muscled, augmented man.Anna wound up sitting on the chair in the living room, while Gunther rummaged around in the messy kitchen. He emerged, waving two tall glasses and a tall bottle, which he rotated so that she could see the label.‘Vodka all right?’ he asked and poured her a generous amount as soon as she nodded.Navarre reached for the glass only to frown, as she discovered her hand was shaking. Actually, not just her hand, the shakes were slowly affecting her arm too. Her workmate reached across the table to wrap her finger around the vessel.‘It’s just shock, it’ll be gone before you know it. Cheers!’ and he clinked his glass against hers.She nodded and drank, and indeed discovered that he was right. By the end of the first glass, the shakes were limited to the minute trembling in her fingers. After the second, she was feeling pleasantly warm and they were all but gone – and Gunther knew her well enough to keep pouring unless she said no to the next one.She lost count sometime around the fourth glass, but her augmentations meant that her head was still clear. Hermann, as usual, drank way less, he was on his second glass only. She teased him about being a lightweight, to which he smiled briefly and she remembered a story about his mates at GSG-9 back home in Germany teasing him about the same thing. In fact, in all the years she had been working with him, she couldn’t recall him smiling much, and pretty much never when not in the privacy of his own flat.Here, in the ghetto. They might be UNATCO agents, and some of the best, but they were still mechanically augmented and confined to what was officially the Augmented District, but everyone on both sides knew it for what it really was. Anna took another sip of the drink. Gunther was nearly ten years her senior and was augmented voluntarily in the 2020s, the augmentation heyday, before the ghettos and the sneers. She, though...She lost track of what she was thinking of. Actually, now that she thought of it, her gaze kept returning to her workmate’s face, making him frown – funnily, she thought – before he looked away.‘Know am ugly. Don’t need you staring, too’ he mumbled into his glass.‘You are not ugly!’ she protested vehemently, as she always did. ‘Just –not classically handsome.’Gunther cracked up for a brief moment, barking out a laugh, which quickly turned bitter. Sensing an oncoming episode of weltschmerz, Navarre poured him some more vodka. If a man in his forties really wanted to brood, he should at least do it in style. He drank some, but continued to focus his augmented gaze on the glass instead of looking at her – and the frown wouldn’t do either. She really didn’t like her partner turning into a ball of angst, thank you. She leaned in to pat his huge shoulders....... and ended up doing something completely else, probably aided by the warm, liquid courage. Her arm wound up around Gunther’s shoulders instead and she found herself kissing his large mouth. He made a brief, shocked sound, so she kissed him again to shut him up.‘Navarre? What are-‘ was as far as he got before her lips claimed his for the third time.‘I thought it was obvious’ she said dryly, and leaned in, before suddenly remembering where she was, as her knee bumped into the table.Embarrassed and horrified at her own inability to control her impulses – and besides, when was the last time she kissed anyone? – she started moving back to her chair, but Hermann’s large hand on her wrist arrested her movement. He tugged lightly on her so that she returned to her previous position, more or less, and initiated the kiss this time.Some more kisses later, Anna found herself maneuvering around the stupid table to press herself closer to his huge frame. She was not short at almost 180 centimetres, but he still had more than a head on her, and his shoulders were very broad. In fact, his sheer size had its advantages, she thought. She felt hot, and even though it has been a long time since she last did feel so, she knew perfectly well what was happening – and what she wanted. The only issue was Gunther’s stupidly low self-esteem.‘Gunther...’ she said, and froze, shocked by the sound of her own voice. Did her cochlear implants malfunction again?He peered down at her and frowned, apparently able to tell something was off even in the near darkness. To forestall any stupid questions, she slowly ran her hand down his front, past the metal buckle of his belt. His large hand caught hers before it could proceed lower.‘Anna- do you really- you could have any other-‘ he waved his other hand in the general direction of the other buildings when words failed him.‘I don’t want others’ she said sharply ‘I want you... unless you don’t-‘ she peered up at him, but trying to read his expression in the dark was a fool’s endeavor, so instead, she wiggled her hand lower and smirked when she felt the bulge in his trousers.‘I do think you do want me, hmm?’ she murmured lowly, and tried to say something more, but he simply unclasped the belt buckle and pounced on her, growling her name.------------------Kep rapped his knuckles on the door. He was the UNATCO man assigned to the Augmented District tonight, as policy required all patrols there to consist of two: a local cop and an armed UNATCO representative. Never mind that the cops were usually armed, too, and a noise complaint in Augmented District usually meant trouble. But as he knocked once again, he indeed heard noises from the inside, and moreover, he thought he recognized the area. Wasn’t this where Hermann lived?Some more moments passed before the door lock clicked and Kep was greeted by the sight of Hermann himself. The majority of him was augmented and the law required augmentations to be fully visible, so he never did wear many clothes, but this time... his workmate’s belt was completely undone, and the zipper was only partially done.‘You... are... interrupting’ Hermann hissed furiously, carefully enunciating every word as was the case when the German really wanted to avoid any misunderstandings.Then he slammed the door closed in their faces before Kep could do more than attempt to stutter an apology. He shrugged a shoulder at the cop, and they went back to the station.Half an hour later, they received another noise complaint at the same address. Even before arriving, Kep felt horribly embarrassed – he was fairly sure what was going on, after all, but the rule was to enter the premises for any subsequent complaints. They shouldered Hermann’s front door open and followed the sounds to what was probably his workmate’s bedroom. They could hear moans, and then a crash that made the city cop break down the door.In the darkness, they could barely make out Hermann’s broad back. The cop took no chances and in an instant, he pressed his gun’s barrel to the older man’s head.‘Stand up! Arms up! Face to the wall!’Kep could see the agent’s jaw work furiously, but he followed the barked orders with no complaints. Unwilling to look at a naked workmate any longer than necessary, he moved his gaze to the bed. The woman, too, had her back to them, and was completely naked. Mostly augmented, and from what he could see, she bore no signs of violence.Actually... Kep frowned. The blue-black sheen of her augmentations and the pulsing blue lines on her back seemed vaguely familiar.‘Gunther?...’ the woman asked, confusedly, and started to roll over.Kep never turned back around as fast as he did in that moment. He recognized the voice and he really, really had no wish to see Anna Navarre naked. He could feel his ears starting to burn. Navarre evidently saw what was going on and screeched loudly at the cop holding Hermann at gunpoint.‘What do you think you’re doing?!’‘Saving you, ma’am’ the cop responded smartly, to which Agent Navarre hissed furiously.‘So you think just because he’s augmented, he’s some sort of a beast?! And what are you even doing here in the first place?’‘Noise complaint –a- um- ma- Agent Navarre’ Kep said, trying to keep his voice as level as possible and still facing away from her.Evidently realizing the UNATCO man was someone she knew personally, Navarre was flustered for a moment, which allowed the cop to butt in.‘Are you sure you’re all right, ma’am? The sounds we heard didn’t seem to-’‘I am fine and I’ll thank you for leaving immediately!’ Kep’s workmate sounded really incensed, which he found completely unsurprising. He tugged on his partner’s shoulder, trying to get him to leave. He, however, dug his heels in.‘Are you really sure?’ he asked doubtfully.Kep groaned loudly. ‘Man, it’s not a good idea to gainsay Navarre-’ he started to say before he was interrupted by a crash and more shouting. He turned around, dreading the sight.‘Anna, no!’ Hermann was no longer being held at gunpoint, instead, the gun was in Navarre’s hand and she was doing her best to point it at the cop and the German was trying to twist her wrist so that she could not do so ‘You don’t want to shoot him!’‘I do!’ the agent snarled angrily, obviously not her usual calm self.‘You might, but you’ll only get us both in trouble!’‘Get out before she shoots you!’ the UNATCO patrolman snarled at the oblivious city cop.Once the man was out of the room, he wondered what to do. Fortunately, Hermann had wrestled the gun out of Anna’s hand. Kep saw it slide along the floor, and picked it up automatically, trying not to look at his workmates.‘Apologies... a-um- umm- Agent Hermann’ he stuttered and quickly left the room.He tried his best not to think about what he’d just heard and seen, but even before they reached the front door again, they could hear more moans. Evidently they picked back right where they were interrupted, or so said the city cop, but in much more crude words. The implied ‘all augmented women are whores’ made Kep so mad on his workmate’s behalf – Navarre’s, even though he never particularly liked her – that he stepped on the man’s foot ‘accidentally’ when closing the door behind himself.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters, SF
The next day, Kep sat down heavily in the UNATCO break room. It was fairly early and he was hoping not to run into – anyone he’d rather not see right now, thank you very much. Despite the fact that it was 0830, the room was fairly crowded. A group of women centered around Janice Reed, Manderley’s personal assistant, and men gathered around Sam Carter, the quartermaster. Kep couldn’t quite make out the topics of discussion, so instead he busied himself with his meal.This proved to be a bad idea, because he was busy eating when Agent Anna Navarre walked in. He choked on his food, earning the attention of Jaime Reyes, the medic, who frowned at him worriedly. Kep shook his head at him and took an extra large gulp of water.If he hadn’t seen her, well, last night, he’d never guess she got laid – her black vest was as perfect as ever, just like her short black hair. She wore a pistol on her hip, which nobody blinked at. It was common knowledge that Navarre was always armed and always happy to kill more people.Navarre picked up her meal, but instead of sitting down somewhere, she propped herself up on a stool and carefully looked around, before digging in. Kep discreetly watched her eat, trying to arrange words into sentences that made sense, sentences that would work before she got pissed enough to shoot him. They said the agent didn’t have a temper, but she definitely didn’t know ‘forgive and forget’, either.He carefully approached her.‘Yes?’ she asked.‘Agent Navarre, I wanted to apologize.’She looked at him blankly, so he tried to jog her memory while trying to phrase it so that he wouldn’t be digging himself a deeper grave. ‘For last night, uh, the noise complaint at Hermann’s-’Anna made a sound and then her face flushed red. She was never a conventional beauty, Kep thought, so the flush didn’t make her prettier, quite the opposite. A red-faced Navarre was, however, a rare enough – unheard of – sight, so more and more heads were turning to look at her. She opened her mouth and started to say something, but suddenly stopped, her gaze fixed on something behind the poor private.‘Is there a problem, Agent Navarre?’ asked a very distinct voice from the doorway.Kep choked again, aware that his ears were probably burning. Just about the last person he wanted to see while having this conversation. He turned his head and indeed, Gunther Hermann was making his way through the crowd. Navarre went an even deeper shade of red and Kep was desperately trying not to chortle as he remembered the same voice calling out the woman’s first name last night...‘Is there a problem?’ Gunther inquired again, mere steps away from them.The private finally found his voice.‘Agent Hermann, I wanted to apologize’ he said, hoping to get this over and done with as soon as possible.‘Apologize for what?’ the large man leaned forward threateningly, as he usually did when he felt insulted, which was not a rare occurrence.‘Uh, the noise complaint, I should have stopped the idiot from- from pulling the gun on you’Hermann shrugged, taking this in stride.‘No harm done. Not first time things like this happened, ‘s a disadvantage of being big-’Kep could see when Hermann’s brain caught up to his mouth, or when the man realized who exactly was sitting half a meter away. A blush slowly made its way from his neck to his cheeks. Most of the staff room was now staring at the unusual tableau and people were starting to whisper.Whispers increased as Navarre bent over the counter, unsuccessfully trying to hide her flaming face – her hair was way too short for this to work. Poor Kep beat a hasty retreat while Agent Hermann shuffled uncertainly in his spot.They were all saved from further embarrassment by an announcement over the speakers, calling for Agents Hermann and Navarre to report to Manderley. Anna straightened herself and promptly left, trying – and failing to – look completely unperturbed. Her assigned partner followed a moment later.‘What was that about?’ Collins elbowed Kep as soon as he sat back down. ‘You were assigned to the Augmented District patrol last night, weren’t you?’On autopilot, the private nodded and went back to his meal.‘So, what happened?’ Collins wasn’t about to give up.‘Noise complaint at Hermann’s’ Kep said shortly, hoping his friend would drop the matter.‘Oooh’ the other man whistled. ‘No one sane would try to rob his place, so my guess is, he bang some bitch a bit too loudly?’He almost choked, but fortunately Carter chose that moment to butt in.‘It’s been known to happen, Collins. He might’n’t be looking like much, but to a paid woman, money is money.’‘Says a happily married man’ was fired back instantly.‘I know for a fact whores would probably discount Gunther on account of his... size’ said a man Kep didn’t immediately recognize, prompting a round of chuckles and increasingly lewd comments.‘His face, though...’ Collins made a face himself and earned himself a smack on the back of the head.‘You gossip like old ladies! Back to work, men’ Carter lowered his hand and got up first.Gunther Hermann sighed, resting his palm on the frame of the door to Navarre’s flat. After a fairly uneventful shift at UNATCO, he escorted her home as was the norm. His assigned partner was currently taking her sweet time standing outside the door instead of entering. He supposed he couldn’t blame her for behaving a bit oddly.The whole day in general was horrible. No matter how much he tried not to, last night’s events kept replaying in his head – it was the first time he’d been with a woman who was not a- what was the English word for Hüre? – so the day was spent feeling horribly torn and embarrassed and awkward and self-conscious. He attempted to remain calm and professional, but he had a feeling he failed awfully at this. And Anna probably felt the same, and now they’ve ruined their professional relationship all for a sake of a- a quick fuck, she’d probably call it.‘See you tomorrow, Navarre’ he said, and turned to leave.Only to be stopped by her augmented hand shooting forward and planting itself on his chest.‘So you are just going to pretend it didn’t happen? Was it that bad?’ she asked, her other hand resting on the butt of her gun, as it always did when she was agitated.‘No, it wasn’t bad, uh.. um, I mean, we’re still assigned to each other, uh, it’s awkw-’His stuttering words were cut short by Anna’s mouth on his, and then he heard the door unlock. Confused, he peered over her shoulder only for her to tug impatiently on his arm. On autopilot, he followed her in, only for her to kick the door closed – and proceed to kiss him again. Gunther heard her gun belt unlatch and she sent it flying somewhere before pulling him in for another kiss. The height difference meant she had to stand on her tiptoes for each one, so there was no way she was not doing it on purpose.‘Anna?’ he asked slowly ‘What- why- you know I’m u-‘‘If you say ‘I’m ugly’ one more time, I’m gonna shoot you’ Navarre stated matter of factly before pressing herself to his front, her hands roaming all over him, trying to locate the buckles and zips of his clothes.‘I thought- one night stand-’‘You really think I would be happy with only one night?’ she asked, and wisely, Gunther shut his mouth with an audible click and instead leaned forward to kiss her.In spite of her words, he fully expected Anna to pull away. She didn’t, and instead, her augmented hands found the buckle of his belt. With the sound of metal on metal, she undid it without breaking the kiss. Finally convinced, he let his large fingers find the zip of her black vest. It closed in the front, affording him the opportunity to run his hands over her breasts, making her sigh and arch against him.‘Gun-ther...’ she said and he was struck by how different her voice sounded now compared to a moment ago.‘Anna’ he rumbled before pressing his mouth to her pale shoulder.In the end, they didn’t make it to the bedroom – they ended up fucking right there in her kitchen, and by the time the morning rolled around, he was honestly surprised that the crash of things flying off the counter and her moans hadn’t resulted in another noise complaint. Maybe Anna’s neighbors had worse hearing than his?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters
Jaime Reyes looked blearily up at the sound of footsteps. It was 0930, which by his standards was still really early, even though morning shift usually started at 0800. He furrowed his brows when he saw Anna Navarre sitting on the edge of the medbay bed.‘Tengo un problema, Jaime’The medic’s eyebrows skyrocketed. True, Navarre was half-Spanish, but since she wasn’t born on the Iberian Peninsula, it wasn’t her native language and she spoke it very rarely. Usually only with him, since most of the staff didn’t speak it.‘Cual es tu problema?’‘Hace mucho tiempo que no- no acuesto con- uh, alguien-’Reyes frowned, hasn’t she been getting enough sleep? Anna’s Spanish could be a bit rusty - and then the second meaning of ‘acostarse’ occurred to him.‘Anna, no me importa nadie que tienes relaciones se-‘‘Si, si, pero- dame algo –una medicina- por favor, Jaime –para que yo no –no se tiro el aqui-’Oh. The medic in him was already thinking of possible solutions for her predicament as he started rummaging around in the cupboards. Even as he browsed through the medicine stores – maybe a mild sedative? a tranquilizer? – he could see Navarre fidgeting on the bed and wringing her hands. When he failed to procure something in a matter of a few minutes, she started walking around, evidently buzzing with too much- excitement to stay still for a longer time.And then it hit him. She said ‘here’.‘Anna, do I know the man?’ he asked gently.The woman froze mid-step and slowly turned around to face him. The expression on her face was all the answer he needed.‘Okay, okay, I don’t need the details, but in that case, you’ll be needing something to calm you down until the day shift ends, am I right?’‘Seven more hours’ Navarre nodded, looking absolutely miserable at the prospect.Jaime finally procured some pills that would - probably – work.‘Take one every two hours, and before you ask, no, these shouldn’t affect your combat effectiveness’---------------Seven hours later, Jaime Reyes made his way out of the medbay and towards the exit. Time to go home and rest. Nothing major really happened, in fact, he only had a couple of visitors in the whole day, including Anna.‘Have you seen Agent Navarre around?’ he asked the woman manning the front desk.She shook her head in the negative. ‘Navarre and Hermann left half an hour ago, sir’‘Then, I’ll be leaving too’ he tipped his head and briskly walked to the exit.It was quite a long walk to where Reyes lived, close to the municipal hospital. It was slowly getting dark, so he took a shortcut through the local park close to the headquarters – the sooner her gets home, the better, and the park was well-lit so he didn’t risk getting mugged.Being alert, however, paid dividends, and he was so much on the alert that he almost jumped out of his skin when he heard rustling nearby. Once he calmed down his wildly beating heart, he looked around to see a couple canoodling on a bench. Two mech-augs, judging by the way the streetlight bounced off the metal portions of their bodies left uncovered in accordance with the law.Reyes started to walk away, when a familiar voice caught his attention.‘No... wait... really? You’re all-’Oh, just agent Gunther Hermann who probably managed to pay some woman of the night enough to make her overlook his face, which was definitely... unconventional considering his augmented eyes.‘Gun-ther...’ the woman all but whined, her back covered in electric blue in stark contrast to the man’s gray-blue augmentations.In fact, the woman’s back was the only thing Reyes could see, given the way she was pressed into the German, pressed so far that if not for differently colored augs, he wouldn’t be able to tell where one started and the other began.Wait.Gunther.A random whore in the streets wouldn’t know Hermann’s first name, would she?‘God, what got into you today? Wai- we wanted to get to the f-‘The electric blue moved, the woman twisting almost like a snake, her arms all over Reyes’ colleague. Then she pulled away for a brief moment, tilting her head back and trying to take her shirt off. Her coordination seemed to be off, though, and she couldn’t quite get it.Jaime froze as the streetlight illuminated the woman’s face. Anna Navarre. He rubbed his eyes but the apparition refused to go away. And as he watched, the woman with his friend’s face pulled Hermann into a kiss. A long, hot kiss, and when they broke apart, he could hear her panting.‘Anna, really, wait until the flat, we can’t here-‘Did he say Anna? Reyes pinched himself once and then twice.‘I’m done waiting, I’ve gone without for several years- Gun-ther-‘ Navarre’s voice was barely recognizable, she was so turned on.The medic pinched himself again. ‘No se tiro el aqui’, she said, and damn if she wasn’t being literal, and now that he knew who the ‘he’ was, he congratulated himself on a job well done since he hadn’t heard anything about... inappropriate behavior... while still on premises. He sighed internally and stepped closer, intending to give Anna another portion of the pills.Something crunched under his foot and Hermann whipped his head around, his large back somehow placing itself between Navarre and the intruder. For her part, she didn’t even look up, her face tilted up to gaze intently at her... partner? Lover? What were they even? For his part, Reyes finally settled – for now – on a uniquely Spanish word, amigovio.‘R-Reyes? What are you doing here?’‘Taking a shortcut on my way home, and then I heard- well- you two...’Gunther’s face colored when he realized what the medic was getting at. Anna, on the other hand, did not seem to be embarrassed at all. Even with Jaime half a meter away, her hands scrabbled at Gunther’s back, trying to press herself into him. And to make matters worse, he heard a belt unbuckling, and given that he could see both of Hermann’s hands clutching at the bench, it could only mean one thing.‘Navarre, you need to stop-‘‘Anna, Reyes is right here-‘They spoke at the same time but it didn’t seem to matter, at all, judging from what he could see of her arms and hands.‘Anna, necesitas controlarse, no quieres...’ Reyes couldn’t figure out how to finish the phrase without being too crude.Apparently, hearing Spanish did the trick, because Navarre turned her head towards him. Her cheek still plastered to her amigovio’s chest, she blinked at the medic as though he’d just woken her up. Reyes frowned and approached her, fishing a penlight from his coat’s pocket. His male colleague nodded at him briefly, brows knitted together.Shining the light revealed Anna’s pupil to be so dilated her human eye appeared almost black instead of steel gray, and without even checking, he knew her body temperature would be slightly elevated. Hot to the touch, in other words.‘What’s wrong with her?’ Gunther asked.‘I’d say nothing... except, well, um, the English phrase is ‘hot and bothered’.‘To Hermann’s blank look, he finally had to elaborate.‘Um- em- she’s extremely turned on...’ he forced himself to say, feeling extremely out of his depth, while pocketing the penlight.Judging by the expression, this phrase was understood.‘Anna, really, if you don’t stop we’ll end up picked by the cops for public inde- inced-‘ The German tried to stop Navarre’s hands from further wandering, mostly unsuccessfully.‘Indecency, and I’d hate to have to explain to Manderley why exactly he has to pick you two up from the police station’The mention of Manderley did the trick – Navarre jumped up and started shuffling away from her partner, reluctance written in her every move. She seemed slightly more alert, but shook her head in the negative when Reyes offered her the pills.‘I- we’ll just- get to the flat- yess-‘ she started shaking her head, as though trying to clear it.Her hands, which clearly itched to start wandering again, Anna tucked into her gun belt, which for some reason was still on – Jaime would have expected it to be one of the first things to go, if just for safety reasons. Gunther got up slowly, making sure there were no discarded items of clothing, and nudged Navarre in the right direction, being extremely careful to only touch her shoulder, and briefly at that. They left, careful not to touch, with Navarre still looking to be operating on autopilot or alternately in deep sleep.Gunther had to admit, he was impressed that Anna managed to wait until they reached his flat, before jumping him again. And jump him she did, literally, climbing like a monkey to nullify the height difference. One of her legs was – possibly – still touching the ground, but the other was propped up on his hip and she seemed determined to grind herself against him.He slid his hand between their bodies, tugging at the zip of her short leggings and somehow, his large fingers found their way inside instead of pulling her clothes off. He expected Navarre to complain – after all, given their size they couldn’t be very dextrous, and even less with the clothing still on.‘Ohh- Gunther- yes- just like th-‘‘You’re being too loud again...’ Gunther rumbled into her ear, pressing his other hand to her mouth.Anna suprised him again by trying to- well, not trying, actually moving against his hand. He supposed he should be thankful for the sheer strength of his augmentations, which let him carry her to the bedroom without dropping her, and for the fact that he knew his flat like the back of his hand, so that they didn’t bump into things on the way there.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters, SF
Jaime Reyes looked up as someone approached his spot in the break room. Curiously, it was Alex Jacobson, the resident hacker and security expert. Always jacked into the net via an occipital implant, he oversaw most of the communications with the agents in the field. And seeing Jacobson outside of his room – man-cave – was very much an unusual situation.‘Hi, Alex. What brings you here to us mere mortals?’The younger man grumbled something and sat down in the empty seat next to the medic.‘I know I know who it is, but I can’t quite tell...’ he murmured loud enough for Jaime to hear.‘Got a problem, Alex?’‘Yup, but I know exactly how to solve it, I’ll put it on speakers, there’s ten people here, someone can probably tell...’‘You might want to wait for a later hour-’‘Nonono, it’s fine, let me just...’Jacobson evidently did something, because a woman’s voice could be heard over the speakers and the tone left no doubt as to what exactly the context was.
Gunther- yes- just like th-
‘Hells, Hermann got laid again?!’ someone exclaimed.Reyes pinched his nose. He was one hundred percent sure whose voice it was. It was indeed changed so much by the force of her- emotions – that even knowing who it was, he was finding it difficult to recognize it.Crash!Heads turned around to locate the source of the sound. Agent Anna Navarre was slowly picking her meal up from the floor. When she straightened up, her face was red. Not an embarrased red, but a furious red. She shoved the plate back on the counter with a clatter and started crossing the room in angry, long steps.‘Jacobson! Tell me how in the bloody f- you have THAT on record?!’ she shrieked.‘I kinda forgot to switch off Hermann’s infolink-‘‘That’s the explanation for sticking your nose into people’s private matters?!’‘Uh-‘‘And why the- mierda –did you play it?!’ she cut him off, not giving him time to answer.Someone whistled. ‘Ooh, Navarre just swore. In Spanish!’‘Uh- um- I thought I know the voice, but wasn’t quite su-‘Anna’s hand went for her gun, Reyes started getting up – maybe he had a chance of grabbing her before she shot Alex. The sound clip played again just as the door crashed open. Great, this probably meant Hermann himself just walked in...Jaime’s guess was confirmed when Gunther approached Jacobson in two huge steps, his face twisted into an angry snarl.‘Jacobson! Not getting laid ever means you get to listen to people getting laid?!’‘Uh, the infolink was still on-‘‘Whose?! And why, scheisse, did you not switch it off?! None of your damn business what we- I- do-’Hermann spluttered to a halt, evidently realizing his mistake, before he proceeded to grab Alex by the front of his shirt and shake him like a ragdoll.‘None- of- your- fucking- business- verdammt!’ and from there on, the tirade descended into German, so nobody really understood it except the man himself, but every word was punctuated with more furious shaking.The medic rubbed a hand over his face tiredly, before he tried to get the large man to calm down.‘I understand you’re mad, but that’s no reason to hurt Jacobson-‘The only answer he got was a snarled phrase in German, which he didn’t even try to parse. All around, people were starting to whisper, and Reyes thought the two agents ought to thank their lucky stars that only a handful of people were around to catch what was said.‘Stop that, Gunther! Let go of him!’ Anna grabbed the tall man’s arm, but it was not necessary: so used to her orders out in the field, he simply followed them to the letter.The hacker slid to the floor in a boneless heap, moaning in pain and looking shaken, literally and figuratively. The woman walked past them, and then there was a crunch and a terrible yell.‘That’ll teach you not to spy on people!’ Navarre said viciously before hurriedly leaving the room, her face red and her meal forgotten.Her assigned partner gave the moaning Jacobson a kick for good measure and left the room, too. As soon as he was gone, whispers started gaining in force.‘Did Hermann just imply that the woman also has an infolink?’ said a man Jaime did not know by voice alone.‘Holy sh- does that mean he banged Navarre?’ exclaimed Collins, loudly enough for everyone present to hear.Yes, Collins, you got that one right, Reyes thought as he bent down over Alex, only to discover than Anna had indeed crushed his hand, probably by stepping on it with her considerable strength. He ignored the talk spreading around the room like fire in favor of winding the man’s other arm around his own shoulders and started trudging back to the medbay.------------------Two hours later, Agents Navarre and Hermann were called in to report to Manderley. They stood at rigid attention in front of their boss’s desk, while the man himself slammed a piece of paper down furiously.‘I have just received a written complaint against you, Agent Hermann. Reyes states that you broke several bones and left bruises on one Mr. Alex Jacobson. I am hard pressed to recall a similar case of ‘friendly fire’ here at UNATCO. Mind giving me an explanation, Gunther?’Gunther Hermann’s jaw worked for a long moment.‘Jacobson was out of line, sir’ he said finally. ‘What I do with a woman is none of his business.’Joseph Manderley’s impressive eyebrows rose.‘While I agree in principle, I fail to understand what made you so angry’‘He recorded –um –uh- her’ it took all of Gunther’s willpower not to glance at Anna ‘voice during- uh-’‘Oh. Jacobson forget to switch off the link?’ Manderley drummed his fingers on the desk.‘Yes, sir. And he played the recording in the break room for everyone to hear’ the man studiously kept his gaze ahead.Their boss glanced back at the report.‘Interesting. Reyes recommends no action be taken. I suppose he concurs with your opinion that this was out of line... which I do agree with. Agent Navarre?’‘Yes, sir?’ her voice was clipped and perfectly professional.‘Reyes also states that you broke Jacobson’s hand. I assume this was the same altercation. Can you explain yourself, Anna?’‘Jacobson shouldn’t have played the clip, sir. That was a gross breach of Gunther’s privacy.’ she stated evenly.‘Fine. I will be taking no action concerning you two and I will talk to Jacobson instead. He definitely should improve his people skills. Dismissed.’ their boss nodded at the door.As Anna and Gunther left Manderley’s office and passed Janice’s desk, the secretary made a funny sound which she immediately tried to hide by pretending to be looking for something in the bottom drawer.-------------------------Anna Navarre stared moodily at her glass of vodka, and then longingly at her gun belt, folded neatly on the cupboard. Gunther, seated next to her, clinked their glasses together.‘What’s got you in a twist?’ he asked, and for a moment, it was almost like the last three days were a dream, a wonderful dream.‘I’d really like to go back to base and take a potshot at Jacobson’ she complained, swirling the drink.‘Crushing his hand probably taught him a better lesson’ her assigned partner grinned briefly. ‘Sticks longer, eh?’‘What would stick longer would be throwing him down here. He’s lucky he isn’t really augmented. I hate that bloody district!’ she slammed the glass down with excessive force.‘Not fair. You never asked to be augmented’ the man nodded.‘Bloody unfair. All those naturals looking down their noses at us!’Hermann shrugged and reached for the bottle, taking a long gulp.‘We’ve got each other, a’least...’ his speech slurred a bit, revealing how much he’d already had.‘Yeah, each other...’ Anna leaned in closer to his warm, comforting body mass.She was slowly starting to drift off when she heard his sleepy, slurred voice.‘Anna? Was y’r’ first a natural?’‘Mmm?’ she hadn’t quite caught that.‘Was your first- man a natural? I know y’n’t a virgin...’‘Why the sudden curiosity? Jealous?’ she couldn’t help but tease even though she wasn’t in the mood for anything this evening, too sullen and angry.‘No, jus’ t’way some think us mechs can only do it wif each’ter...’‘People are idiots. I was a nat, he was an aug, if you have to know.’‘That works?’ Gunther’s optics blinked at her, surprise written all over his face.‘Relevant body parts are usually unchan- Gunther?’No response. His head somehow ended up pillowed on her comparatively small shoulder. He looked surprisingly peaceful in his sleep, much more so than when awake, with the augmented eyes shut down. Giving in to an impulse, she ran her finger along their polygonal edges... and again... and wound up slowly... falling... asleep... too. Fully clothed, just like him.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Detroit, unspecified location
Anna Navarre calmly lifted her gun to aim at a fleeing target and squeezed the trigger. The man fell. His comrades responded with a hail of bullets, but, not knowing her position, they failed to actually connect.She heard a grunt of pain, and turned her head to see Agent Hermann drop the machine gun in favor of a pistol. Click went the safety, and then he shot the man who hit him, with extreme prejudice.Being cloaked was extremely neat, Navarre thought, as Gunther shrugged off more hits due to his subdermal ballistic armor, but there were no bullets headed for her. She steadied her aim and a hostile fell. Not even needing to check - she was sure it was a headshot - she turned to aim at another, only to find the remaining men gone.Her companion shrugged, and looked around warily.'All clear' he said after a moment.Trusting his assessment of the situation, she switched her cloak off and bent to check her gun. Something brushed her hair so close that she felt it go by, and then she saw it - a thirty ought five round embedded in the wall behind her.'A sniper!' she called out, remembering that for this mission they were accompanied by three UNATCO troops.She crouched to make herself a smaller target and switched on the scope on her gun. Her gaze swept the closest buildings. Clear... clear... here! A minute movement caught her interest. Was that light glinting off a rifle's barrel?Gunther moved forward to obscure her position once he, too, located the shooter. Anna tried to tell him to move back, but he was studiously ignoring the infolink.Bang! A flash of light, and she aimed and shot at the target, not even sparing a thought to do it. The sniper fell and did not get up.She lowered her gun and turned around, only to see Gunther crouched low and his temple - one of the very few unarmored parts of him - splattered with blood.'Hermann?' she asked, feeling her own blood turn to ice. For all their augmentations, a sniper caliber round to the head could kill a mech-aug as easily as any other man.Her partner grunted and dazedly looked at her, his large fingers touching his temple.'Damn bastard almost got me' he murmured.All clear, said Alex Jacobson in her infolink, and he was echoed by the voices of the men who were supposed to have their backs.'Perimeter clear, Agent Navarre. Sniper's down and staying this way.'Anna tried to take a deep breath. Her blood still signing in her veins, she did not stop to think, just discarded the gun and brought her hand up to Gunther's temple. Drops of red stained her fingers and she felt them tremble. It was too close for comfort.'Why didn't you stay down?' she asked.'Bigger target' was the straightforward answer.She shivered and pressed her hand to his chest, as though needing to reassure herself Hermann was still alive. His large hand covered hers.'Still alive, see?' he grunted.Gunther surprised her by leaning in to kiss her, and it was only when she heard someone gasp that she remembered that it wasn't a solo mission.Let them gawk, Anna thought, kissing the impossible man back. She was slowly starting to think that his habitual disregard for life - including his own - was not a good thing.A throat clearing brought them back to reality, and the five strong group climbed into the helicopter which just arrived. For some reason, there weren't five seats available, though.She made to sit next to Hermann, her hand still on his chest, still needing to feel his heart beat, when he said 'Collins, take the seat' and instead, she found herself seated on his lap for the remainder of the flight.In fact, Navarre was not complaining, because Gunther kept showering her face and neck with sloppy kisses. She was sure that if not for the dark in the cabin, her face would be flaming red, given the presence of the three men right next to them.The flight was a bit short for her tastes and the landing a bit jarring. The man made to kiss her again as they exited the chopper.'The report, Hermann' she protested, trying her best to sound professional.'Fuck the report' said he 'In fact, I know I'd rather fu-' she tried to muffle the rest of the sentence by pressing her hand to his large mouth, but considering how the three UNATCO troops suddenly developed coughing fits, she supposed the rest of the sentence was unfortunately understandable.'Noise complaint, Augmented District 9.' a computerized voice announced.'Did it say 9?' Collins looked up from the papers he was shuffling aimlessly around.'Nine' the local cop confirmed.'Then we don't need to go. I escorted my friends to his flat a couple hours ago, and I am fairly sure what is going on' he waggled his eyebrows for good measure.'Collins, the rules...''Damn the rules. I don't need to see 'em screwing' the UNATCO on duty complained. 'We'll go if there's a second complaint, all right?' he added to assuage his partner for tonight's patrol.An hour later, Collins supposed he should eat his words. There was a second complaint indeed, and considering it was strike two, they would have to go into Hermann's flat instead of just knocking.As expected, rapping on the door brought no one forward, so the two of them forced their way in to find themselves in a rather messy kitchen.The moonlight shining through the window probably made for romantic scenery, Collins thought grouchily, but the creaking of the old table certainly didn't. Hermann had his back to them and considering they could see a leg each hanging off the table on each side of him, both he and the cop were definitely sure what was going on.He cleared his throat rather loudly, and when it failed to faze his coworker, he stepped forward and boldly tapped the taller man's shoulder. Gunther slowly took a couple steps back. His large hand took hold of a dangling blue-black augmented leg only to bend it at the knee and gently place it on the table.'Collins?' the German turned his head to look at him. 'Wha- Noise complaint again?''Again' the UNATCO man confirmed, staring steadily at the powerfully built agent. 'Hermann, I don't suppose I could persuade you to stop-' a shake of the head 'then maybe you could persuade- her- to be quieter.''No' Hermann said firmly, and before Collins could protest, he turned his head to look at his bedmate and grin. 'I like it when she's loud.'Mercifully, the cop remained quiet, probably realizing that the UNATCO knew the mech-aug. There was a moment's silence, which was broken by a low moan.'Gun-ther...'Collins pinched himself. It was exactly the voice that Jacobson played in the break room yesterday. He had no idea Navarre's voice could even go that low. The blue-black sheen of her leg was enough proof of her identity, though, and as he stared, said leg started to slide slowly along the table, towards her partner.'Patience, Anna...' the large man murmured, slowly sliding his - comparatively huge - palm along her foot.There were more moans, and a rustle as Navarre's head rolled from side to side, her augmented eye's light very low. It focused on him.'Collins?... Get out, it's an order!' she barked and at this moment, she actually sounded like herself.Automatically, Collins scrambled to obey. The city cop followed him sheepishly.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters
Gunther Hermann looked up surprised, as Collins approached him casually - too casually - and slipped a piece of paper in his hand."Hermann,
noise dampener or a gag!
I reckon you don't want more noise complaints"The German colored as he realized what the other man was getting at.'Not my fault I got stupid neighbors' he complained aloud, but Collins was already gone.He walked into the office he shared with Agent Navarre, pocketing the incriminating note so that she wouldn't see it, hopefully ever. Anna was already there, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and a foot tapping impatiently.'Manderley wants to see us, supposedly something big's afoot.''Another mission?''Yes, I can't wait to put my shooting to the test.''You mean kill more people' he grumbled. 'Your shooting is still perfect and you don't need more practice.''You're grumpy because I'm catching up' she accused, righting her gun belt.She was of course referring to their age-old rivalry, the mounting kill tallies between them. He took no pride in the numbers; she did. He killed because they were the bad guys; she killed because she liked killing. Simple as that, Anna Navarre was a homicidal killer.Their workplace banter did not change in the last couple of days, but he still found his gaze drawn to her hips. They haven't magically changed, of course, but it seemed there was a femininity to Anna that he'd never noticed before.'Now is not the time for distractions, Agent Hermann' she reprimanded him drily and his head snapped back up.She walked out, and as she passed him, Gunther thought that he heard her whisper '... but the night might be...'He shook his head to clear it. Navarre had the right of it and he had to be able to function without being unduly distracted by the simple fact of her being of the opposite sex, which he had never paid any attention to, before.
Janice Reed tried her best not to erupt in a fit of giggles, as she saw Agents Navarre and Hermann leave Manderley's office side by side after a briefing.
A cough brought her attention to the UNATCO man who was probably waiting for his turn to speak to the boss.
'You mean you've heard the story too? I thought Collins was making stuff up.' said he, and she recognized private Newman.
'I didn't hear a thing from Collins. I saw Navarre crush Jacobson's hand after he played a sound clip of Hermann's - lover, I guess. I never saw Anna as mad as in that moment, and well, I guess she basically outed herself with what she said about him 'spying on people'.' Janice shook her head.
'Grapevine says the boss was really mad at Jacobson for that stunt, too. But really? Navarre? I always thought she's got no heart.'
'Newman, you are an adult, you know, you don't need... love... to, well-'
'Huh, and here I thought you women were all romantics' the private observed.
Reed shook her head.
'I sincerely doubt Anna Navarre is any sort of a romantic. I haven't seen her out in the field, though.'
'I have, and let me tell you, stone cold bitch is a much more apt description.'
'Newman, come in instead of gossiping about Agent Navarre's romanticity or the lack of it' said Manderley's voice behind them.
Newman coughed and wondered how much of the conversation the boss heard, while Janice Reed suddenly went very quiet and red in the face.
She decided to peek into the corridor. People were milling about, after all it was the middle of a busy day, but interestingly it seemed the UNATCO grapevine was functioning - Navarre and Hermann walked along to the stairs seemingly oblivious to the whispers all around.
Instead of taking Collins' advice, Gunther simply picked the easier option: instead of bringing Anna to his own flat, he escorted her to hers - and never left. He hanged his khaki jacket on a chair's backrest and gently blew on his tea to cool it off a bit.
Navarre was seated opposite him, busy with her own meal. The gun belt clinked a tiny bit with every little move she made, which was supremely distracting again.
She grumbled loudly, tearing off the plastic wrapper off another ready meal. With their lifestyle, there was simply no time to cook, and the wages they received at UNATCO were too poor to be able to hire a person to do it.
The wrapper was folded noisily into a ball and tossed carelessly into a bin.
'Three points' Hermann attempted to joke, but it fell flat - both he and Anna knew it would always be on target, after all, due to her augmented vision and arms.
Anna stood up and brought the dishes to the dishwasher, switched it on. A wave of her hand dimmed the lights in the kitchen, and she lazily turned around and walked towards what he could only assume to be the bedroom.
Feeling awkward - after all, he'd never actually been in her bedroom - he hovered on the threshold until Navarre gave him an impatient look over her shoulder.
The bedroom turned out to be as utilitarian as the rest of her flat. A bed, a bedside lamp, a small cupboard and a small mirror above it. No vanity or other things he would have expected from a woman's room - but Gunther should not be surprised, after all, in the years he'd known her Anna was never a typical woman. Until recently, he would have thought her one and only passion was killing people in cold blood.
The man turned around as he heard her gun belt unlatch. She made a show of slowly unwinding it from her hips - which meant she'd really noticed his gazing at her earlier - and then she shoved the belt under the bed.
Anna took a couple of steps towards him with extreme care, and only when she was close did he notice that her leggings were already undone. She smirked and murmured something in Spanish, but unfortunately it was not a language he ever learnt a word of.
Navarre pulled him into a scorching kiss, which he welcomed gladly, and settled his large hands on her hips. She shook her head with a smirk before grabbing him by the wrist and bringing the hand where she wanted it, where she was already wet.
'Anna...' Hermann murmured, shocked, and tried to find further words in English. They failed him, so he switched to his native German.
His partner said something that his brain - unusually slow today - did not quite comprehend.
'Ja... 's gut...'
'Du sprichst Deutsch?!' he could not quite contain his exhilaration at the idea of having someone to talk with in his native tongue.
'Ein wenig...' Anna said slowly, haltingly.
She rolled her hips and the sensation made him lose the train of thought. Apparently it did the same to her, because she moaned. Gunther tried to pull off her clothes, but he had to do it with his non-dominant hand, because she clasped her thighs firmly around it to keep it in place. She did the same after he undid his belt, and he huffed in frustration.
'Uh- let go- how can-'
Her completely unexpected response was a series of explicit phrases, partially in English, partially in German, that he was only too happy to carry out.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Anna Navarre's flat, SF
After a grueling day of combat exercises, Anna Navarre flopped down on her bed. She clicked a couple buttons on her remote only for nothing to happen.'Conditioning's broke' Gunther reminded her.The woman grumbled. Of course, her air conditioning was broken, and opening the windows was not an option with the housing density in the Augmented District - it would invite neighbors to peek and listen in to whatever was going on in the flat.'Bloody heat' she complained. 'I don't even want to get up and pick up the food from the kitchen'Without a word, Hermann stood up and disappeared into her kitchen, only to reappear a moment later with their plates. Anna stared at him, surprised by the kind gesture.She sat cross-legged on her bed and after a moment's deliberation, patted the space next to her before digging in. The furniture dipped a bit as Gunther mirrored her position.The ready meal wasn't too tasty, so to distract herself, she switched on the TV and browsed through the collection of action movies. They ended up picking something with the most ridiculous title possible.As expected, the movie contained no plot and the action scenes were a mess. She caught her partner sniggering at her notes on the improbability of some scenes, and just to entertain him, she kept a running commentary for the whole duration of the film.Somehow during the two-and-a-bit hours, Gunther wound up sitting behind her, his chin propped on her shoulder and his arms loosely wrapped around her comparatively slender frame.As the ending credits rolled, he felt him press a slight kiss to the nape of her neck, where her short black hair started.'Too hot' she complained, shaking her head.The bedsprings complained too when the large man made to get up.'Where do you think you're going?' Anna asked.'Guest room? I'm not in the mood either''Doesn't matter. Stay' she found herself saying.Hermann looked at her, as surprised as she was, and then shrugged. Late as it was, it did not take long for him to fall asleep sitting up. Navarre grumbled a bit and then tugged off her vest, keeping the bra on, and crashed on the bed.The sweltering heat woke her up several hours later. She found herself laying on one half of the bed, with a shirtless Gunther stretched out behind her. He lay facing her back, and one of his hands was a warm and familiar weight on her hip. It did not move and in fact, the man seemed to be asleep.Anna was surprised to discover that it did not bother her. In fact, Hermann's hand was welcome and comforting, and his large frame was a wall she could snuggle up to, just for the pleasant warmth he exuded.She covered his hand with her own and snuggled closer indeed. The movement woke him up and he tilted his head to look at her, the red light of his augmented eyes very very low.'Anna? Changed your mind?''Not really. I've just realized... no, never mind. I'm being silly' she chastised herself.'You're not silly' Gunther rumbled. 'So, what is it?''It's been a week, and I just realized it's the longest I've been with a- a single man.''Really? What about your first?''It didn't work out, it fizzled after two nights. Same story with the others. I'd get antsy, look for a handsome guy for one night or two, and then, well, it wouldn't work out. UNATCO and all that... you can't exactly tell them...'To her surprise, Hermann started getting up. He reached out to where his shirt was hanging off the bedpost.'Gunther?' she said confused.'I'm guessing it's the end. You dump handsome guy after two days, and ugly old guy after a week.''What?' she rolled over to face him and grabbed at his arm.'I'm an idiot, and people at HQ will be right to laugh at me this time' Gunther started looking around for the rest of his things.'You are not an idiot' Anna said firmly 'and why do you suddenly want to leave?' a sudden thought occurred to her 'Is it just because we didn't- tonight? There will be- more nights' she found herself saying.Hermann froze.'There will be? You mean- you're not dumping me?''Why would I?' Navarre was honestly bewildered. 'You're- good in bed- I have no reason to complain-' she could tell her face was growing red, so she changed the train of thought quickly '-and there's no need for walking on eggshells around my bedmate for once.''Walking on eggshells?' the German frowned.'Having to keep UNATCO secrets' she clarified.'Oh. Right' he walked back to the bed and awkwardly lay back down.'If someone's an idiot here, it's me' Anna sighed 'I've been trying to ignore the whispers back at the base, and I might've made the wrong impression on you, too?''Do you really care about them whispering?' Gunther found himself asking while pretending to be fascinated by his own hands.'No. They always whispered. You think I haven't heard all the people saying I am a sick bitch? A crazy mech-aug? I heard those and even more variations over the years. Damn natches, they always think they are better than us. If UNATCO didn't need someone to handle all the shooting, they would have probably dismissed me long ago. Why keep a killer around?' Navarre said bitterly, her fingers fisting in the sheets.Hermann slowly placed his hand over hers.'They'd have to dismiss me too. Remember, I still have a higher tally.''I know you regret them later, though. I don't. I know it's fucking messed up, but I don't.''Maybe they messed up your- initial augmentation? There was so much they did at once...' he trailed off.Anna sat up sharply.'You know what? I don't care. Either way, they made me into what I am now. A machine made to kill.''A machine? Is that what you think you are? No. I am not a machine.' Gunther shook his head sharply. 'And neither are you. I remember when you started, when you were still a natch. You were a person, and you still are the same person. Hell, I remember when I was a nat, and I don't think I changed much. Not that there's anyone around to tell...''Oh.' Navarre remembered what little she knew about the upheavals of the late 2020s, about the Human Restoration Act... of course there wasn't anyone left.'Besides, machines don't do this' Hermann shifted closer, and placed his large mouth on hers.The kiss was long and sweet, with none of the urgency of the ones she remembered from the week. His hand was back on her hip, and Anna was slowly realizing that she wouldn't mind making this- whatever they had - a part of her routine.'There will be more nights' Gunther echoed her words from earlier.'They will talk. Does this not bother you? Manderley could dismiss one of us - I don't think there's a protocol for this...' Anna frowned.'Of course there isn't. You, me, Shea... to the higher ups, we're all tools - made of metal - to get job done, that's all.'He sounded bitter again, so she ran her hand along his shoulders, and they slowly drifted off back to sleep. Or at least she did. Wasn't really sure if Hermann's augmented eyes did shut off before hers, or not.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
Agent Anna Navarre shifted ever so slightly, peering through the scope of her sniper rifle. Down below, Gunther Hermann was supposed to negotiate with the terrorists. Anna would have preferred to go in guns blazing, and hope for the best, but the standing orders from the Coalition were to attempt safe hostage extraction first.The hostage takers picked a fairly strategic spot - a square covered in a park, where they could cover or barricade all entrances. The site was dominated by an old monument, depicting a man being bayoneted in the back. Gruesome as it probably was to some people, Navarre was unaffected and took a moment to check out the inscription.Katyn 1940.Over half a century before she was even born. The middle of World War Two. The eagle depicted was definitely not the Russian two headed eagle. Nor did it look like the German imperial eagle. The monument could not be contemporaneous with the event, though, it did not look 90 years old, maybe half that?She returned her attention to the situation on the ground. Hermann was retreating, with a hostage in tow. There were only two hostages remaining, and both placed so that Navarre estimated their extraction should be possible.I will get the one closer to the monument, she sent over the infolink, and you attempt to get the one closer to your position.Gunther replied in an affirmative, so she waited for the hostage to be safely ensconced among the UNATCO troops and policemen. Her partner was now, for all intents and purposes, next to the barricades, and seemingly not hostile. Several more minutes passed before she saw the terrorists relax visibly.3,2,1, incoming! said he in her infolink, and then she saw a grenade of some kind sail over the barricade. Obviously not a live one - for all the fun it would be, the first hostage was too close - probably a gas grenade or a flashbang.Her guess was proven correct as the two closest boogeys staggered blinded by the flash. The man they were trying to use as a human shield proved quick thinking in danger, by ducking to the ground and attempting to crawl away under the cover of darkness, towards Hermann's position.This was her cue. Anna took a deep breath and steadied her aim. It had to count. It had to be a headshot, or the second hostage was dead. A second longer, and she pressed the trigger.The hostile holding a gun to the man's head fell, his own head exploding in a shower of blood. The hostage was sprayed in it and too shocked to act, but he didn't have to.Hermann hollered some sort of a battle cry, and it garnered the terrorists' attention successfully enough. Navarre jumped down from her perch, cloak switched on, swiftly running towards the monument. A knife in a neck took down a hostile who was facing away from her, and then she risked decloaking - forcing down memories of the last time her cloak augmentation failed - so that she could wave the hostage to a safe spot.Shocked and stunned as he was, he seemed to realize she was with the law enforcement, and started to move towards her. Anna used the shadow of the monument to get even closer, and motion the man to the other side. Once she was sure he was far enough away - and on a road to safety - she lifted her machine gun and began to shoot.A hostile fell just as he began to turn. She grinned. No more obstacles to killing more men, to getting closer to Gunther's killcount, unless of course he scored more today. Another terrorist spotted her and lifted his hands in the air. Navarre blithely ignored the apparent surrender and put a couple bullets in him just for good measure. Human shields will not work, she thought.Realizing their "shields" were gone, the hostiles started to shoot indiscriminately, so she cloaked again. Between the two of them, however, the agents made quick work of the terrorists. Anna grinned as the last enemy fell, blood coursing swiftly through her veins.'Clear, clear!' Agent Hermann called out, and the UNATCO and the cops both moved in to secure the area.'Let's leave them to the clean-up' he said a little quieter, and started to walk away, only to stop suddenly.Her first thought was that they must have missed a boogey, but instead, she realized he was staring up at the monument.'An atrocity that should have never happened' he murmured.'So you know what it's about? The emblem doesn't look German...''It's Polish. In the middle of the second war, Russians murdered hundreds of Polish prisoners of war. People protected under the Geneva Convention.' Gunther's face twisted and he spat on the ground. 'It went in the face of any rule on the planet. It should have never happened.''Russians? Russians did it? So why have I never heard about it?' she asked sceptically.'Russians tried their best to keep it under wraps for dozens of years. And I'm not surprised it's not a thing they taught you at a Russian school...' the German finished acerbically. 'Bayoneting unarmed prisoners in the back? Shooting them in the back of the head? They found corpses on corpses in the forest, hands tied with wire... Best Soviet execution methods!'He shook his head and continued on his previous path, taking them away from the improvised barricades and the bustle. Navarre followed, only to see he'd led them to a nice little secluded spot in the park, with real grass underfoot, not concrete and glass. On closer examination, the grass turned out to be wet with the morning dew, and she briefly deliberated whether the simple pleasure of sitting down would be worth the annoyance of getting her limbs wet.Hermann solved the problem by pulling off his khaki jacket and spreading it on the grass. Anna plopped down gracelessly, stretching out so that she could run her hands through the grass blades. She was surprised to see that he seemed to be in no hurry to join her, instead seemingly adjusting his belt. No, not the belt. She smirked as the realization hit, and rolled over so that she was on her back.'I thought you'd be up for a r-' she started to say, crooking her finger in a come-hither gesture, only to be interrupted by him practically pouncing on her and kissing her thoroughly.'You know, in the past there was a lot of -ficking' his wording provoked a chuckle from her 'after battles. Nowadays, we fight with guns not swords, but we men are built the same...' Gunther mused once they came up for air.'I can tell...' Navarre smirked up at him, shuffling a tiny bit closer. 'And, you know, I don't think the effect is limited to men only...''It isn't?'Anna shook her head and started unzipping her leggings slowly.'Can't you tell? I'm hot... and w-' she said, a bit breathless, only to be interrupted by another kiss.'Is there a hotel nearby?' Hermann wondered, practically. 'We could- get a ro- Anna...' he groaned as her fingers started working on his belt.'I have no idea- and I don't care''Someone could wander over, if you're not quiet-''So they'll probably be getting a bit of a show...' the woman murmured. 'Is this a problem?'Gunther deliberated for a brief - very brief - moment whether the risk would be worth it. Anna had no such inhibitions, a rush of heat shooting through her at the realization that they could indeed be caught by total strangers.Having come to a decision, her partner unbuckled the belt. Unwilling to be completely naked in public, he left the trousers on, though. Navarre followed his example, undoing the zip of her vest as much as it would allow, instead of shucking it completely.Hermann hissed a swearword or two in German when he saw how dark her steel gray human eye became.'Mein Gott, you really like the idea of possibly giving someone a show' he half stated, half asked.Anna moaned in reply, and then slammed her hand on her own mouth to muffle the sound. As Gunther put his hands to work, her free hand clawed at the grass. He already had an idea of what she liked, and he was a quick learner when he really wanted to.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters, SF
Joseph Manderley rubbed his temples and looked blearily at the phone.'Janice? Get me Navarre, I've got some Russians who want to discuss something now.' he called on the local line.'Sir? It's the middle of the night' his secretary replied.'I am aware' he groaned. 'Get Navarre, the sooner the better.'There was silence on Janice's end of the line.'Agent Navarre's not picking up, sir' she said after a long moment.Manderley juggled the remote handset and walked over to Janice's desk in front of his own office, plopping wearily into a spare chair.'... yes, we do have a Russian speaker on staff, we are currently trying to raise her. Unfortunately it's nighttime here... yes, I am aware it is daytime in Russia...'Reed rolled her eyes, mouthing 'timezones' and kept trying to raise Anna, while the boss put the Russians on hold.Ten minutes failed to yield anything, after which the secretary shrugged.'I don't think she's home, sir. I might try Hermann's? He often escorts her home, after all.'He nodded a 'go ahead' at her. Gunther Hermann picked up after the second ringtone.'Gunther Hermann speaking' he said in a slurred, sleepy voice.'Apologies for the late call, but we're trying to get a hold of Agent Navarre. She's not at her flat, do you maybe know where she is?''Janice? 's middle o' the night?''I am aware, but there is an urgent issue' the UNATCO chief picked the phone from Janice's hand.'Sir?!' Gunther sounded much more alert the moment he heard his voice. There was a rustling of sheets and a whisper and belatedly, Manderley remembered that Hermann kept the phone next to his bed.'Do you maybe know where Navarre is?' he repeated.'Uh-' there was more rustling and the boss calculated the time Hermann would need to dismiss his woman for the night and to get Navarre from the guest room.His deliberations were interrupted by a crisp familiar voice, much sooner than he would have expected.'Navarre speaking. What's the urgency?''We have need of a Russian speaker due to a transcontinental call. I put them on hold until you arrive. Um, Anna, why is your voice off?''Dry throat' was the clipped reply.On the other side of the desk, Janice was making a weird face. Manderley frowned, and then a couple of giggles escaped his secretary's mouth.'All right, see you in twenty then at the HQ?' he asked, ignoring Janice's weird behavior.'Uh- can I have ten more minutes?'The man's dark eyebrows went up. In all the years she worked for him, Anna never asked for more time.'Ten more minutes? You don't usually need ten more minutes, Navarre.''That's because usually I'm not having intercourse at the moment you call' Navarre said bluntly.Reed's face went completely red, her eyes boggling. Manderley supposed he must look similar.'Uh- um- yes, you may have ten more minutes to get ready. Uh, my apologies for the interruption, and if you could please convey them to- uh, your companion?' he floundered.'No' Anna said firmly. 'I'm not passing on any messages. You can apologize to Gunther yourself, Mr Manderley''Anna-' Hermann hissed loudly enough to be heard over the line.A crackle of static, and some more rustling. While Manderley tried to gather his thoughts together, Janice pulled the phone out of his hand.'Did you just say Gunther?' she demanded loudly.'Hermann speaking' the German said in his unmistakable accent. 'And yes, you heard that correctly.' he added after a brief pause.Reed choked and said nothing, staring at the phone in disbelief.'I think you have an excuse to make.' Gunther added when she didn't speak up for a long moment.The phone clattered loudly on Janice's desk when she dropped it in shock. She quickly picked it back up, only to choke out 'You- and- Navarre?! I thought people were joking!''They were not. Got a problem with that, Janice?' the man asked, a hint of aggression in his tone.'Uh- um- er, of course not' Reed stuttered. 'My apologies for the- call.'There was no answer, just the clatter of the handset being forcefully shoved back into its place.Agent Anna Navarre showed up around the the twenty-five minute mark, breathing heavily - Manderley supposed she must have run most of the way to the headquarters. If not for her bald admission earlier, he would have never guessed the situation the call found her in, either - she was dressed in her usual outfit and nothing was out of order.She proved herself to be as professional as always, easily translating to and from her native Russian. It transpired that they were looking for information on one Juan Lebedev, an individual of mixed Russian-Spanish heritage not unlike Anna herself.When the call was finished, Navarre shrugged in response to his inquisitive glance.'I wouldn't know why they are so interested in a teen' she said.Manderley shuffled a bit, looking extremely uncomfortable.'Once again, I wanted to apologize for- for calling upon you in the middle of the night.''I outran any thugs that might've wanted to rob me, though. There was no danger involved' she said coolly.The chief coughed and dropped the topic, clearly seeing that Navarre had no intention to let her professional and personal lives mix. He nodded at her and she turned around to leave, only to freeze at the threshold.'Gunther?' she said, clearly surprised.Manderley stood up and sure enough, Agent Hermann stood next to Janice's desk.'Excuse that I thought it would be safer if I escorted you to the flat, Agent Navarre' the German said, as he did a hundred times earlier.'You didn't have to- it's really late-' Agent Navarre, it seemed did not expect the escort tonight.'I would have escorted you the other way, but you were too fast' the man pointed out with the tiniest hint of humor.Just like Anna, Gunther was calm and professional as always.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters, SF
Agent Anna Navarre was supposed to be eating her morning meal in the break room, but in reality she was a bit too nervous to do so. She kept glancing over to where Gunther sat, or alternately at the speakers, half-expecting a summons to the chief.And she was proven right, as soon as she actually managed to calm down enough to force some food down.'Agents Navarre and Hermann, report to Manderley's office'Anna heard a muffled curse from Hermann, as he got up, too. He sent her a look which did nothing to assuage her nerves.'We are thinking the same thought, aren't we?' Navarre whispered along the way, to which he nodded sharply.Janice Reed motioned them on on autopilot, and then went completely red as she realized who exactly was summoned. The poor secretary tried to hide her reaction by looking for something under her desk, but the damage was done. Gunther fidgeted nervously, and Anna found herself saying 'It wasn't your fault, Janice' even though she was never one to comfort others, much.They walked into Manderley's office and stood arm in arm, like a hundred times before. Only this time, she was hyperaware of Hermann's bulk next to her, and was studiously trying to keep her gaze fixed ahead while maintaining parade rest position.On his part, the chief looked uncomfortable as he coughed - a clear sign that the summons wasn't about an upcoming mission, but about last night's events. For a moment, Anna thought he would say something, but he didn't, his gaze straying to Gunther instead.The tense silence stretched and stretched, and finally Navarre could not take it anymore.'Is this it? Are you dismissing me, Mr Manderley?' she asked plainly.Her assigned partner glanced at her briefly, clearly surprised that she was the first to crack, and went back to staring studiously ahead, his hands clasped together behind his back.Manderley shook his head.'As long as the... situation... doesn't affect your professional lives and doesn't decrease the quota of successfully completed missions... I cannot find a reason to dismiss you. Either of you.' he clarified, glancing at the German again.'Are you going to assign Agent Navarre to someone else?' the man asked.Anna jerked involuntarily and barely bit back a protest. Hermann was the best partner she ever worked with. No other, not even Jordan Shea, a fellow mech-aug woman, came close.The boss steepled his fingers together, and after a moment of deliberation, shook his head. Navarre let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.'Unless something happens on a mission that would require me to - or one of you asks for a reassignment - the answer is no, Gunther.'For a moment, she thought she saw the beginnings of a relieved smile on Gunther's face, before he schooled his face into a neutral expression.'Is that all, sir?' he asked.'Yes, dismissed' Manderley nodded at the door.Jordan Shea blinked in surprise as a familiar tall form made its way through the crowd milling around in the bar. Even more surprisingly, Gunther Hermann was not alone.Her fellow mech and his companion headed to an empty corner. Shea turned around to be able to see what was happening. The companion turned out to be a woman, clad in what seemed to be Gunther's own khaki jacket.The German waved down some staff and a moment later, they were presented with two wine glasses and a bottle of wine. The man exchanged some words with a waiter she knew and Jordan nudged him as he passed.'What does Gunther want?''Candles' replied her friend.The candles were quickly delivered and lit, and Shea found herself whistling. A candle-lit dinner? Must be quite an occasion. In fact, she couldn't recall seeing Hermann often in any sort of a establishment, let alone such a fancy one. And for him not to be alone was unheard of.Gunther was actually smiling at his companion as he poured the wine and lit the candles. Jordan focused her gaze on the woman and almost fell out of her chair as she recognized Agent Anna Navarre.'What is going on?' Shea wondered aloud to herself as she moved to an empty table a bit closer to the one Hermann and Navarre occupied.Anna actually smiled back as Hermann clinked the vessels. With her hair somehow obscuring the augmented eye, she could almost pass for a beauty in the candlelight.Gunther spent a moment looking for an appropriate toast, and Jordan Shea almost missed it when he finally decided on one.'To us' he said, brief and to the point as usual.Navarre actually giggled at that, and then tried to distract herself or maybe Hermann by taking a large gulp of wine.While Shea was trying to come to terms with the fact that Anna Navarre could giggle like a lovestruck teen, their dinner was done with in no time, and as she watched her workmates transitioned to straightforward drinking.The wine brought a flush to Anna's cheeks. Gunther took small sips, seemingly content with watching the woman opposite him. Clearly out of his depth, he fiddled nervously with various things, most recently with the candles.'Leave 'em 'lone, Gunther' said Navarre, and giggled again.Hermann said something Shea completely missed, and then her attention was arrested by movement - Navarre seemingly couldn't figure out what to do with her legs, shifting them, tapping, crossing and uncrossing them. Finally, to Jordan's complete shock, her foot touched Gunther's leg and started slowly sliding up. Navarre was flirting? The mech pinched herself.The man seemed unaware of what was going on below the tabletop, and continued to slowly sip his wine. In fact, by Shea's count, Anna drank much more than he did. She said something to him, which resulted in the waiter being waved over and ordered to bring more wine.Halfway through the next glass, however, Hermann grabbed Navarre's wrist.'I think that's enough' he said, speech a bit slurred from the wine.Anna reluctantly put the glass down and contented herself with licking the drops from her lips. To Jordan's surprise, the man did not let go of her hand - instead running his large thumb over her knuckles. She expected Navarre to yank her hand out of his grasp, but her workmate did no such thing. She said something with a smile, to which Gunther bowed his head low and kissed her hand, like an old-fashioned gentleman might.Navarre giggled again and did not withdraw her hand. Hermann ran his thumb over it again and they stayed like this for a few minutes.Just as Jordan Shea was wondering how much exactly did her workmates drink, Anna suddenly leaned forward - toppling her half-full glass over - and kissed her companion. To Shea's complete shock, the man kissed her back. The woman pinched herself again.In no time at all, both glasses were knocked over - owing to Navarre crawling across the table - and she was in Gunther's lap. Jordan shook her head dumbfounded, seeing her workmates kiss. She quickly lost count of the actual number of kisses.As a matter of fact, currently Hermann pressed a kiss to Anna's ear. Was it Shea's imagination, or did it make the woman shiver? Either way, he said something into said ear, and that provoked a reaction - Navarre twisting around, her knees on his thighs, and kissing him with enough force to quite possibly bruise.The man laughed and bent forward, only his strength keeping Navarre from tipping back. His mouth was on her neck and shoulder now and Jordan Shea saw the bouncers consider the situation and slowly get up. No one wanted couples getting too frisky in the bar, after all.For some reason, Shea doubted that her workmates would take well to the usual kind of persuasion. She got up and approached the table.'How about you find yourselves a room, Navarre?' she asked as calmly as she could, considering.Anna slurred something and her head tilted forward, coming to rest on Gunther's shoulder. The German turned around and his eyes widened - or would have widened were they natural - when he spotted Jordan Shea.'I think- Anna has had too much to drink' he said finally.'I think you have had a bit too much yourself, Hermann. Is that a new way to treat your workmate?'Her fellow mech shook his head.'No, just Anna' he said, grinning.The other woman slurred something more and clutched at the man's back. The sloppy kiss ended up somewhere on his collarbone, but that didn't stifle the grin, at all. Gunther's hands came to rest on her hips, keeping her upright and very close.'Shea, I think you know the area. Where can I- we- get a room?' he asked.Jordan's jaw dropped at the implications, and the man didn't even try to hide his smirk. She stuttered out directions to the closest hotel and, still shocked, watched them leave, Navarre only kept upright by Hermann's arm around her.Her waiter friend whistled.'You know those two? Been a long time since someone wanted a darned candle-lit dinner here...'
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Gunther Hermann's flat, SF; several days later
Gunther Hermann frowned, as a buzz of an incoming infolink message interrupted him rather sharply. He lifted his finger to his temple to acknowledge it, knowing that it had to be something serious since the link was switched off whenever they were off duty.'Hermann? There's an emergency, all staff is to report in. I tried Navarre, but her link seems to be off? Is she asleep?' asked Jacobson's voice in the link.'Uh, she's not?' Gunther was confused, staring at his bedmate who was definitely NOT asleep.'That's weird, I've been trying to raise her for the last couple of minutes'As a matter of fact, Anna complained quite vocally as he now withdrew his hand from where it was. Her human eye was darker than usual - a clear sign of her arousal he could spot even if she were dressed.Even as he attempted to get dressed while acknowledging Alex on the infolink, Navarre tried to plaster herself against him, obviously game for yet another... round.Anna, there's an emergency, we're supposed to report in, he said over the link.Zero reaction from her caused him to frown and repeat himself aloud.'Report in now? Is this a joke?' she complained aloud 'Gun-ther...'Navarre half-heartedly reached for her boots and started slipping them on, only to stop and spread her legs, smirking at him.'Like what you see?' she teased.'Very much, but we seriously don't have time for this now.' Hermann buckled his belt and started looking for his jacket.Anna slid along the edge of the bed, still mostly naked, and tried to undo his work. He swatted her hand away and tried to wrangle her into her leggings and vest. If they had more time, it might have been fun, but at present it was mostly an exercise in frustration, not helped at all by her persistence in trying to get in his pants.Gunther sighed, glancing at her gun belt stowed away on the cupboard.'You're insatiable, and we really don't have time' he complained before deciding that the only sensible course of action was to bring her off.Fortunately she liked his fingers well enough that it did not require getting undressed again. Flushed and bright-eyed still, she glanced at him before reluctantly putting on her belt.
Anna Navarre was not happy at all when they arrived at the headquarters. Instead of being told what the emergency was about, she was ambushed by a pissed-off looking Alex Jacobson who tore into her about having her infolink switched off.
'It's in normal off-duty mode, if you really wanted, you could switch it on' she stated matter of factly.
'I don't know what you did, Anna, but the link was off! I couldn't contact you, I had to rely on Gunther to pass the message'
'My link definitely wasn't off, you've given me a headache with your yelling on the way'
'It did work then, but when I tried calling you twenty minutes earlier, it didn't work.'
'I was home twenty minutes earlier, and not asleep, and why wouldn't it work?'
Hermann frowned.
'Anna, something was definitely off with your infolink. I tried to pass on the message on the link and you didn't acknowledge it. I had to repeat myself aloud.'
Seeing her bewildered expression, Jacobson hustled her along to the medbay. Gunther followed.
Jaime Reyes looked alarmed when he saw the trio, and even more alarmed when Alex explained that her infolink seemed to be malfunctioning. He invited Alex to his side room, leaving Navarre and Hermann in the medbay itself.
After a couple of calls went through with no problem, Jaime tapped his chin thoughtfully and went to talk to her in person.
'Anna, what were you doing when the infolink wasn't working?'
Navarre said nothing and somehow managed not to glance at her partner.
'This is important, we need to figure out what is causing it not to work'
Gunther tapped Jaime's arm and scrawled a couple words on a piece of paper. The medic glanced at it and said 'oh', in a tone that made it clear he got the point.
'Has this happened before? For instance, when I caught you in the park?'
Anna looked bewildered at Reyes.
'Caught us in the park? What are you talking about?'
Hermann frowned.
'Seriously, you're asking Jaime that question? He almost died from mortification, and as a matter of fact, so did I'
'I don't understand...' Navarre said slowly.
'Uh- you were all over me in the park, you said you don't want to wait, and you didn't really want to stop even with him half a meter away...'
The woman blushed crimson as the implications set in.
'I don't remember! Jaime, why don't I remember what you two are talking about?!'
Gunther and Jaime exchanged worried looks.
'I can't tell you right now why, but I am starting to suspect that this amnesia of yours and the infolink not working are connected. Maybe it's a question of an altered mental state...? Wait for a bit!' and the medic dashed into the side room only to come back with two sets of brain activity sensors.
Reyes shuffled awkwardly on the spot for a moment.
'So, um, em, I think the only way to figure it out is, em, to carry out an experiment. I'll try to get a list of your enhancements sent down from the Augmentations and um, I think we're sure Gunther isn't suffering from whatever's happening, so we have something to compare against. Um, em, so- we'll switch off the cameras in here and -uh'
'I get the point, and I think so does Anna' Hermann took pity on the stuttering medic.
Reyes placed the sensors on the man's head, and then on Navarre's. For her part, she looked like she wanted to sink into the ground, face still flaming red.
'Anna...' Gunther said slowly once the medic was gone.
He glanced around to check that the cameras were indeed off, and then he sat down next to her on the medbay bed.
'If- if you don't want to, I'm sure you could -erm, find another way to uh- trigger whatever is going on, but-'
Anna gave the room a quick once over, took a deep breath, and then reached to squeeze his hand.
'It's not going to be- comfortable- but why should I make do with fantasies when I have- the real deal- available?'
She attempted a smirk, not an evil one but the kind that she often wore in their bed - didn't matter whether his or hers - but it quickly slipped off, revealing that she was definitely uncomfortable with the situation.
'You weren't worried about giving someone a show... why so uncomfortable now?' Hermann pointed out sensibly.
'It's Reyes, for f- pity's sakes. Someone we both know...' she fidgeted visibly and he squeezed her hand back, trying to comfort her.
'Camera's off, and I bet Jaime is as uncomfortable with it as we are'
Navarre nodded and slowly ran a finger along his collarbone. Gunther carefully took her hand by the wrist and shocked her by sliding her finger into his mouth. Her nerves tingled at the feeling, hot and wet, and she found herself imagining her lover's mouth on... other parts of her. He let go after a moment, and she made a small sound of disappointment, only for him to kiss her with surprising passion.
'What? You okay with-' she said, surprised.
'Well, we were interrupted, and I never-'
'Oh...' Anna said breathily at the implications 'Gun-ther'
She found herself shivering and she knew, from the way her own voice sounded to her ears, that she was already back to pretty much where they were interrupted. She knelt on the bed and tried to simultaneously shimmy out of her vest and leggings, only for him to chuckle.
'One thing at a time, Anna...' he murmured, reaching for her and tugging her trousers off.
Jaime Reyes swore under his breath in Spanish when the moans from the medbay got louder. Alex, sitting next to him and peering at live readouts of the augmentations, stuck his fingers into his ears, and when that didn't help, started singing some sort of a silly ditty over and over.
When the medic couldn't deal with it anymore, he opened the door a crack and yelled:
'Keep your voice down, will you?'
He tried not to look, so he didn't see any sort of reaction, but was even more bewildered by Jacobson's comment.
'No reaction, Jaime.'
He repeated himself and, this time, heard a muffled acknowledgement from the man. Alex tapped him on the shoulder, shaking his head and mouthing 'Try Spanish'.
Reyes glanced at the readouts and frowned. Zero reaction indeed.
'Anna, baja la voz!' he hissed, incensed.
This time, the moans quieted down and there was a slight spike in the readout. Jacobson and the medic shared a worried look. Why wasn't Navarre registering English at all, but she would be registering Spanish?
Then from behind the not quite closed doors came Hermann's rough voice saying something in German. For a long moment, there was a lull in the moaning, and then Gunther chuckled and said something else in his native language.
'I had no idea she knows German...' said Alex, staring at Anna's brain activity patterns.
Jaime Reyes scrambled to grab a marker and label the two, no, three spikes. Helpfully, the hacker pointed out the two moments where English failed to register at all.
'Que por diablo...' he muttered, completely confused and out of his depth.
He grabbed the phone and punched in Reed's internal number, from memory.
'Reed, give me the boss, immediately!'
As soon as he heard Manderley's voice, he cut him off.
'I need Agent Navarre's and Agent Hermann's augmentation files, ASAP. Yes, they are both in the medbay. Yes, it's urgent. No, they aren't fit for anything now' Jacobson chuckled humorlessly at that.
Reyes was shocked to see Manderley deliver the files in person twenty minutes later. The 'experiment' now over, Anna was covered and fast asleep on the medbay bed, aided by some tranquilizers, and Gunther was completely dressed and hovering nervously along the wall.
The chief stared at the readouts as he walked in and put the files on the table.
'What seems to be the problem?' he asked mildly.
'Navarre reported the infolink is not working. Well, um, to be frank, Hermann reported-'
'What is wrong with Anna?' the man himself butted in.
'Anyone's guess at this point' Jaime shrugged helplessly 'but I really don't like this'
Hermann invited himself in and then he stared at the readouts displayed on the wall.
'This?'
'This is Anna's brain activity, and this is yours.' Reyes motioned. 'Pretty much the same thing happens to the infolink, as you see from Alex's data here.'
'She fell asleep?' Manderley asked, pointing out at the point where the activity suddenly declined.
'What?!' Gunther exclaimed.
'I know it looks like that, Mr Manderley, but the answer is no. We, um, carried out an experiment and it seems Navarre's infolink - and a vast majority of her brain activity - shut off when she's... um... uh-'
'Horny' Hermann supplied, deadpan.
He craned his neck to study the rest of the graph, immediately spotting the spikes.
'I don't understand. This, whatever it is, doesn't look like a one-time event, and I can tell you she is fully aware of what is going on. Well, you know I wouldn't- force her-' he trailed off, twisting his fingers awkwardly. 'So uh, the spikes?'
'This was me yelling at her to keep her voice down' Jaime pointed out the first two markers. 'You definitely heard me, Gunther, so she must have, too, but there is no reaction. None at all. Here's me yelling the same thing in Spanish, and here's whatever you said in German.'
'Pretty much the same. She's always loud-' Gunther said, and then a slight flush climbed up his neck as he remembered he was commenting on Anna's- habits- in front of his superior. Fortunately the chief chose not to comment.
'Her brain activity is definitely not normal. Somewhat like sleepwalking?' Manderley steepled his fingers, as was his habit when he was deep in thought. 'And the fact that the infolink doesn't work is very concerning'
'The only thing I can think of is some augmentation - including possibly the infolink itself - disrupting something in Anna's brain. Because clearly, practically all higher functions stop. In this state, Navarre is a creature of instincts, nothing more.' Reyes scowled furiously.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters, SF
Anna Navarre slowly came to, blinking sluggishly. She was having trouble focusing or remembering, but she immediately recognized the surroundings. What happened to put her in the medbay? The last thing she was sure of was Gunther wrangling her into her clothes because of an urgent call to headquarters.When she sat up, she found two men seated on both sides of her bed, staring at her intently. Jaime and Gunther, no surprise here. It happened too many times to count.'What happened?' she croaked.The men exchanged a look over her head and Navarre did not like it one bit. She liked the situation even less when Hermann took her hand gently, like he expected her to break if he did it normally.'Navarre, there seems to be some trouble with your augmentations. Manderley has suspended you from any field missions, because it involves your infolink'That bit delivered in Reyes's no-nonsense voice did nothing to improve her humor.'So? Get the Augmentations to fix it and I'll be back to active duty in no time at all' she snapped.'It's not as easy as that. Whatever is happening is also.... messing with your head. Your brain''What?!' she whirled around to face the medic, nearly ripping her hand out of Gunther's grasp. 'You're telling me they fucked up my augmentations?'Clearly intimidated, Jaime could only offer a nod in response to her wrath.'So not only do they make me into a fucking killer machine, but they also fuck with my head, too!''Anna-' Hermann started.'Killer machine? What are you referring to?' the medic was confused and intrigued by her wording.'Don't tell me you haven't heard all the people talking how I am a cold killer. Did you honestly think I was born that way, unable to feel anything except the thrill of killing?!' Navarre snapped bitterly.Reyes's jaw dropped.'You mean that? I- I never knew. Is it really the only thing that you've felt since you were-' he hesitated, looking for a word, finally setting on the obvious 'augmented?''Pretty much! And you're telling me there's something even more messed up about my fucking head?!'Jaime ignored her outburst in favor of grabbing a pad of paper.'I think you're exaggerating a bit, Anna. From the way you're talking, I daresay you do experience anger, for instance. And ah- um- er-' he glanced at Gunther, his face coloring, and the woman remembered suddenly his admission that he knew about the two of them.Her anger overruled any shame she might have felt, though.'Yes, I am frankly fucking surprised I am actually able to feel sexual desire, you know! That didn't exactly matter in the last couple of years or so! So there you have it, I am a fucking freak who is only good for two things!''Anna, you're being too hard on yourself-' Gunther began.'I don't need platitudes, I want to know what the fuck they fucked up this time!' she snarled furiously.Over the next couple of minutes, Reyes jotted down all the emotions Navarre claimed to be able to feel - she was not very wrong in stating there were only two of them, the list was extremely short.And because he could not delay telling her any longer, the medic finally stuttered out an explanation of what was occurring.Anna stared at him in shock, and then violently tore her hand out of Gunther's.'You're telling me I'm not in control of myself when I- no, that does not make sense, I remember everything-' she broke off, her face heating up at the memories of the last week. 'Tell me he got something wrong, Gunther?'The man shook his head slowly.'I'm sorry, but there is definitely something going on. You yourself just said that- it didn't matter over the last several years, so this week alone you've probably- gotten laid much more than-''I-' it suddenly occurred to her that he was right, that it was really more times than over pretty much all the years since she'd lost her virginity...'What the fuck...' she said weakly. 'You two really think I am being- controlled by-'The idea of being a mindless slave to- to her urges- no, it was too much. She was not a mindless husk or a machine, she was a person who knew what she was doing. She is her own master, not bowing to her basest instincts.She lunged to her feet and was out of the medbay at a run.Gunther looked at Reyes, not surprised by Anna's violent reaction. They'd both been expecting it from the agent, usually cool and collected. It was obvious that the news would rattle her, but what they didn't expect was the extreme degree. The expression on her face as she ran out was- frankly terrifying.'Go check on her' the medic said after a moment.Hermann obliged, mostly because he had thought the same thing.The door to their office was not closed. He pushed it open only to freeze.Anna was sitting in her chair, her service gun pressed against her own temple, face pale but determined and eyes unfocused.'No!'He lurched forward to stop her and barely registered her actually squeezing the trigger in the next instant.His arm rammed into hers, and then his whole body followed in a tackle. There was a bang, and for a single horrifying instant he was not sure if he did bump her hand up in time.Then he felt the rise and fall of Navarre's chest, and as he looked up dazedly, he saw the bullet embedded in the ceiling.To his mounting horror, Anna tried to maneuver her gun back into position. He was finding it difficult to hold her arm back.Gunther was not really aware of what was happening because he was focused on the woman, but the sound of a gunshot evidently brought in someone. He slowly realized that a second man was helping him wrangle Navarre into submission and forcing her to drop the gun. A grunt in green uniform ran out, presumably to fetch Reyes.Navarre seemed to realize she couldn't reach for her pistol, and instead tried to fight the men, biting and scratching. Hermann winced as her fingers ran over his augmented eyes, but were unable to actually damage them.The medic arrived several moments later and proceeded to put several tranquilizing shots in the struggling woman. By the time Anna was loaded onto a stretcher, her hands fastened securely to the sides, there was quite a crowd gathered.Gunther stared numbly at her service pistol and then at the spot where the bullet hit. The mere thought that Anna had tried to take her own life... How much did she value her own independence if she was willing to go to such lengths to ensure she was always her own master?'What happened?' the crowd parted to reveal the chief, Joseph Manderley, closely trailed by the quartermaster, Sam Carter. 'I heard a gunshot''Agent Navarre- she- well-' the man next to Hermann stuttered.'Spit it out!' Carter said impatiently.'She tried to kill herself, sir' said someone else.There was a moment of shocked silence and then both men made their way to where he stood, frozen next to Anna's chair.'Hermann, is it true?'Manderley's voice. Gunther tried to speak but found himself unable to, so just settled for a nod.'Why?''R-Reyes told her- about- what is happening- with her- She was- upset- said something- about control'Every word was like a weight he had to lift from the depths. Every beat of his own heart a reminder that a moment later, and Anna's would not beat anymore.'Report to the medbay, Gunther. You're in shock.'When he failed to move, the chief stressed.'That is an order''Yes, sir' he said automatically and slowly walked out of the office, step by step, with people whispering as they moved out of his way.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters, SF, two days later
Anna Navarre groaned as she was welcomed by the sight of the sterile white medbay walls again. At least she was no longer restrained, since Reyes has judged her no longer a suicide risk. Suicide risk. That thought rankled.Now that she was thinking much more clearly, thanks to Reyes and Hermann sitting with her half the night, she was even more determined to get to the bottom of this, and firmly told Mr Manderley so.'Are you sure, Anna?' the chief asked presently, and she noticed Janice Reed giving her a sympathetic glance. 'You could take a day or two for a break, and-''I don't want a break. I want to be back to active duty as soon as possible. And I still don't like the idea of- of something affecting my thinking.'She glanced around the room. There were four of them in the medbay, Jaime, Gunther, Janice, and the chief. All of them privy to her problems, to her- innermost secrets. That rankled, too. Against her will, she found her gaze drawn to Gunther, to the scratches she'd apparently left as he stopped her from- ending it all.'In fact, I'd like to give Augmentations a call right now and see if they can't figure out what's going on. With my full cooperation, sir'The chief walked over to the phone and promptly called the Augmentations department.'Any progress regarding Agent Navarre?'The answer must have been negative, because he continued 'She is here in the medbay and assures me she'll do everything necessary to figure out what is happening.'At a press of a button, the response from the other department could be heard clearly.'The data that we received is insufficient to determine what exactly is happening. He even neglected to describe the exact trigger.'Navarre glanced at the medic, who colored.'I am sure Dr Reyes had his reasons for doing so' Manderley said smoothly.'In that case, we will need to carry out a second experiment. Agent Navarre, I assume you know what triggers the event?''Y-Yes' Anna said, willing herself not to look at Gunther, or at Reed, who was possibly the only person not privy to all the details.'You will need to trigger it, and we'll watch the live feed from the medbay and all the data from the augmentations. That should help us isolate whichever is malfunctioning. It is definitely not the infolink, and Jacobson and Reyes only provided us with data on the infolink.''L-Live feed from the medbay?' Navarre stuttered.'There are cameras in the medbay, as you are well aware, Agent Navarre' was the smooth response.'I- Uh-''I believe you said you will do everything necessary''Are the cameras necessary?' Anna fired back, hoping the answer will be no.'They are more than necessary, they are imperative so that we can discover the source of your problem, Agent.'Navarre opened her mouth to protest, when Hermann cut in, in German.'Anna, das ist kein Problem.'Her head snapped around, and then she registered the language... hearing German seemingly was enough to make her feel- things, since he only spoke it with her in his bed. And a smirk on his face proved irrefutably that he did pick the language on purpose.'Okay, everyone out!' Reyes snapped, making her jump.She turned around to face the medic, but he was already following his own advice. Seeing her inquisitive look, Jaime winked and said 'Anna, your eyes betray you'He started to turn around to leave, and then stopped and said something to Gunther in a low voice. The man grunted in agreement and then slowly sat on the bed next to Anna.'The medic said, everyone out?' one of the Augmentation guys said confusedly once the medbay was deserted.Hermann flipped them a rude gesture and hoped the cameras caught it.'You wanted the trigger, you'll be getting the trigger' he said.He leaned in to whisper in Anna's ear 'Do you want my jacket? No need to give them more of a show than absolutely necessary...'Navarre stared at him, once again surprised by his thoughtfulness. Gunther wrapped his jacket gently around her and patted down the collar with a quirky smile.'It looks great on you' he whispered.Anna swallowed as the simple phrase ratcheted her temperature even higher. She leaned forward to kiss him, and was surprised when he gently touched his finger to her lips once they broke apart. Before she could express her surprise, though, his digit slid into her mouth. Judging by his smile, he remembered exactly what it did to her the last time.Hermann slowly removed his finger and she couldn't contain herself any longer.'Gun-ther... please...'She saw the smile widen into a smirk, and then his hand quickly went for the zipper of her leggings. As usual, he swore when he found her wet, and then wasted no time in sliding his fingers into her clothing.His other arm prevented her from overbalancing and falling off the narrow medbay bed - too narrow for two people, at any rate.Gunther tucked her closer to himself, hoping that the closeness would obscure the details of what exactly was going on.'Reyes suggested bringing you off as quickly as possible, this way they don't get a show but get the trigger they want.' he whispered into her ear.
The men manning the Augmentations department looked at each other. One of them slammed the end call button with a bit more force than necessary and stared at the scene in the medbay, more than a bit shocked. His colleague stared at the incoming data and tried calling Navarre's infolink one more time, to no avail.'I think I now know why the doc didn't tell us what the trigger was' he moaned. 'Why did we insist on cameras?''Don't complain. If we only had the audio feed, it would be a hundred times worse' his colleague replied.'Infolink definitely doesn't work, but no reports of malfunction. Anything else?''I think everything's green. Er, um, do you know who the man is?''I believe that's Agent Hermann' was the distracted answer. 'You said everything's green? That makes no sense.''Maybe we just have to wait a bit? For her to -um-''I daresay it won't take her long to -um' the other man parroted him on purpose, smirking.The only reaction he got was him trying to plant his face into the desk, and then going back to studiously looking at the data.'You think they're together? He certainly worked her up in no time at all...''Uh- well, I think so- you focus on the data instead of gossi-'A loud, long, drawn out moan sounded and then they both looked at each other.'I think that answers the question. Is his first name Gunther?''I don't care, look, I think we've got a flash of something''A flash?' he repeated doubtfully.'A glitch, or something, in the data. Look!' he was pointing excitedly.A quick look confirmed that indeed, one of Navarre's augmentations glitched out for a couple of miliseconds as she reached her peak.'Which aug was that? Any more glitches?'The gossipy guy looked at the readout.'I'm not sure, might be the eye? Everything looks green now.''So, uh, I guess they need to keep going?''Looks like it, uh, you want to tell-?''Do I have a fucking choice?'Gunther swore softly under his breath as he lifted his finger to his temple to acknowledge the incoming message.'Anna?' he whispered.His partner looked at him, still a little bit out of it.'They think they've got a lead, but they need- uh- the message was 'keep going'.'Navarre groaned, her face turning red in mortification.'They could at least admit they want a show from a fucking who-'Not able to restrain himself, he slapped her sharply on the cheek.'I don't want to hear you refer to yourself in such a way!' he growled.'I'm no better than-''Believe me, you're way better'The admission shocked Anna into silence. Hermann lowered his voice.'Before you, I've had paid women many times. With you, it's way better, it's not just about- well, myself- I'd go hard and fast-'He cut himself off when he saw her gray eye darken. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.'What if I want it hard and fast?' she whispered into his ear.Gunther drew in a sharp breath. Two weeks into their- relationship, and she still kept shocking him.'Roll over, and hold on to something' he said matter of factly.Navarre smirked at him and did exactly that, lying flat on her belly, stretching her arms above her head to grip the rail. Surprised by her compliance, he draped himself over her and adjusted his own jacket. It was obviously too long for Anna, and would probably get in the way a bit, but on the other hand, it would protect her modesty as much as possible in the situation. His hands made quick work of her leggings, and then he tried to forget about the cameras.She made a sound he'd never heard, raw and primal. Thinking they'd gone too far, he tried to stop.'Harder' Anna snapped at him, turning her head a bit.He complied, and was rewarded by her moaning, pitch changing abruptly, and finally going so far as to dig her teeth into her own arm when her throat became too raw to produce sounds.'Anna, Anna' he said hoarsely and belatedly supposed they could time his thrusts by his words alone.His own name was torn from her throat when she came, but he was too far gone to care, and besides, in seemingly no time at all she was peaking again, and again.Gunther rolled slightly to the side so that he wouldn't crush her, and watched as she slowly came down from her high, her human eye heavy-lidded. To be frank, she looked completely blissed out, to a degree he'd never seen before.'Gunther...' she said dazedly 'I think I saw stars... That was...'Some more minutes later, there was a knock and Reyes walked back into the medbay, looking distinctly uncomfortable and more than a bit relieved as he saw that they both seemed mostly dressed.'They know what's going on. You're going into surgery now, Anna, and they'll fix it.''Surgery?' Navarre repeated, rolling onto her back and then slowly sitting up. 'What was it? Why the surgery?''They said to tell you that you literally saw stars, it's your eye augmentation malfunctioning.' the medic explained.Anna froze and stopped trying to take off Hermann's jacket. Instead, her grip on his hand tightened to the point that it went white.'No, no surgeries!' she protested.'Anna, it's going to be fine' Gunther said gently, rubbing her knuckles and righting his jacket on her. 'Keep it, it's all going to be okay.'Navarre was not really listening, though. She looked... terrified. And would not let go of his hand, not even when they started to sedate her for the surgery, her gray eye wild with terror.She was now under, but she had such a death grip on him that Reyes had to help him extract his hand from it.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters, SF
Gunther Hermann found himself pacing the corridor outside the medbay. Five large steps in one direction, turn around, five steps in the other. Navarre has been in surgery for five hours already, how much longer? What if something went wrong again? What if-Too upset to express himself, he slammed his forehead into the wall. The brief pain he felt was enough to bring some clarity to his thoughts. He turned around and was halfway across the corridor, when someone called his name.'Oi, Hermann! You going to smash that wall or what?'He shrugged.'Instead of pacing a rut here, you could go upstairs and relax a bit' said Collins with a wink.'Relax?' Gunther said, like the idea was offensive to him.'I might have something to help' the UNATCO man winked and mimed tipping a glass. 'You pacing here isn't gonna make Navarre's surgery any shorter, either way. I guess it's gonna take some more time.'With a sigh, Hermann followed Collins to the office he shared with Anna. The corporal rummaged around a bit and found the bottle of vodka she kept hidden in the cupboard.'How do you- oh, never mind.' he forced himself to find a glass, just to keep himself busy.The other man poured him enough to fill the glass.'To Anna' said he, clinking the glasses together.Gunther grunted and downed the glass in one go, promptly choking. Collins burst into laughter.'Don't pretend to drink it like the Russians do when you are not one!'Coughing and spluttering, he gave the other man a dark look.'Why were you pacing down there at all? Navarre's been in the medbay tons of times, and I don't think I've seen you so... worried as right now.' Collins lowered his voice 'Is this because you two are- y'know-'Hermann shook his head.'Nah, if it happened two weeks ago I'd be doing the same thing.''Why? She's a tough little- woman, she'll be fine.''She will not' Gunther said darkly.The door creaked and Jordan Shea popped her head in just in time to hear the last sentence.'Don't be stupid, Hermann. They'll fix the aug and she'll be like new!' she said cheerfully.'Like new? Like the day they augmented her? Is that what you mean?''Obviously.' Shea rolled her eyes at him.Completely incensed, Hermann threw the glass at the wall.'You mean she'll be a fucking mess again! You joined later, you don't know what Navarre was like when she was a natch- and then they-'He slammed his fist on the table, breathing heavily.'Navarre was a natch?' Collins repeated stupidly. 'You mean she joined before she was... augmented?''Yes and yes' the woman saved him from answering. 'She was really damn good as a natch, I don't know why they even augmented her. It's like putting a spoiler on your car, what's the bloody point if it's good in the first place?'Gunther scowled at the remains of the glass he'd thrown in a fit of temper, and got up to get himself a new one. This time, he didn't try to down it in one go, instead taking slower gulps.'Weird, why did she get herself augmented then?' Collins wondered loudly.'She didn't' the German found himself saying. 'They never asked her opinion. She was on a mission. The mission went south. I was not on it, by the way, they wanted me to babysit some fucking rookie. When they brought her into the medbay, she was not conscious at all.''Why not wait for her to wake up?' Shea asked.'They said it was the only chance for her to survive' Hermann said woodenly. 'She was- there was a lot of blood- she lost both arms- majority of her legs- and her left eye. Her body was- shutting down, it couldn't cope with the shock''Shit' the UNATCO man said. 'So they just decided to augment her, right there and then?''Yeah' Gunther grumbled, his eyes staring unseeingly at the wall, lost in memories. 'They wheeled her off into surgery, and the next time I saw her- she was no longer the girl I used to know.''That majorly sucks' Jordan poured herself half a glass and downed it. 'I bet she didn't take that well?''Of course she didn't. That was some fucking trauma that initial surgery saddled her with. The first weeks, she would wake up screaming. Since then, she refused any and all surgeries, point blank, over the years. Now, though, with her eye aug malfunctioning, she couldn't really refuse, but she really freaked out over another surgery.''No shit. I bet waking up in a body not her own must have really done a number on her' Collins mused.Anna Navarre stood in her bathroom stark naked, staring at her reflection in the wall-mounted mirror. Jaime and Gunther kept telling her she had her facts confused, that nearly ten years passed since she was augmented, and while the rational part of her brain accepted it, the tiny emotional corner still refused to understand.She ran her hand along her face, down her neck, along her collarbones and then slowly she dragged it down her sides, to her hips. Both legs were augmented from roughly mid-thigh down, and Anna ran a finger along the line where her own flesh ended and the metal began.She shivered and ran her hand along the other arm, tracing the blue lines running down to the elbow. All four limbs not her own, just assemblages of blue-black metal. Rhodium? Blued steel? She did not know and did not honestly care to.Navarre swore under her breath and leaned over the sink. The movement exposed the electric blue lines all over her back, yet another reminder that she was not a natch... not anymore.She swore viciously in Russian. A moment later, the door opened.'Navarre? You alright?' asked Gunther's familiar voice.Anna took a deep breath and tried to keep her runaway emotions in check.'No! How can I be? Look at me, how little of me is actually human!'She whipped around to face him and only when he saw his stunned expression did she remember that she was completely naked. Shame, however, was not an emotion she was familiar with, and anger quickly overruled any others.'This is not myself! This is not what I remember! They made me into this freak instead!''You are not a freak' Hermann said levelly, keeping his gaze on her face. 'You are human'She snorted.'Half human, at best, and half machine''You are not a machine' Gunther said, and for some reason she had a feeling he was not saying it for the first time.To Navarre's surprise, instead of leaving her with her own jumbled feelings, he took slow, measured steps towards her. She turned away from him, facing the mirror. Undeterred, he approached her.'You are definitely human, Anna. A woman, and damn attractive woman if I can say so' he rumbled.Anna looked at his expression in the mirror, so earnest, and found herself laughing.'Me? Attractive? Are you drunk, Gunther?'He shook his head, and surprised her once again, pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck.'Damn attractive' he repeated.Hermann shocked her by kissing her metal fingers, and then trailing kisses up her arm.'Doesn't it bother you? The metal?' she asked.He shook his head, pressing his lips to her pale shoulder, and then tracing his way along her collarbone to her neck. He paused for a moment before kissing her on the mouth, and Navarre shivered, flashes of memories running through her mind.''m going to kiss you everywhere, show you how attractive you are' he murmured.When she did not protest, Gunther trailed kisses down the other side of her neck, and she shivered in anticipation before his lips slowly traveled down her other arm. He genuinely seemed not to care whether he was kissing warm human flesh or cold metal, she mused before he followed a trail down her side, to her hip, and then along her leg. He paused for a moment, grinning up at her, and then his lips claimed the arch of her foot before traveling back up, to her knee and then to her inner thigh. Anna bit her lip to keep herself from moaning, as he treated her other limb to more of the same. He turned her around slightly so that she could see her back in the mirror, and trailed kisses along the electric blue lines on her back, all the way down to her waist.By the time he was done showing her his appreciation, she felt hot and acutely aware of her own desire. And half-remembered flashes of them together did nothing to cool her down.'You said you were going to kiss me everywhere...' Navarre breathed, finding her own voice low and husky.'I just did?' she could see honest confusion on Hermann's face.'Oh, you' she said in exasperation before sliding her hand down her front, to the one place he'd missed.The instant when he understood her made her wish that she could see his natural eyes instead of the red emotionless augmentations. Would they be blown large? Or dilated like her own, from what she could see in the mirror?Gunther's large hands spread her legs a bit further, and then as his lips claimed her, she lost all capability for coherent thought, her moans echoing off the bathroom walls.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Gunther Hermann's flat, SF
Sam Carter sighed and pounded on Hermann's door once again, just in case. It was 0930, and Agent Hermann has not arrived at the headquarters yet - he was running an hour and a half later. Sam supposed the man could have simply overslept, but as it was, Mr Manderley himself insisted he fetch the missing man, 'because you could do with seeing something that's not the inside of the armory', end quote.There was no answer, and Carter had the spare key, so he let himself in. The kitchen was completely empty and it did not look like Gunther had eaten yet, so he skipped it and went straight for the bedroom, briefly stopping to peek in the guest room on the offhand chance Navarre - the other missing agent today - was there. The room, however, was empty.Sam pressed the knob on the bedroom door and found it unlocked, so he invited himself inside, assuming Hermann was simply sleeping.And he froze in shock when he saw the man was not alone - he had a woman in his bed, and judging from the way he was lazily kissing her, this was no paid woman of the night. His guess was confirmed when he heard the woman utter the agent's first name.'Gunther, are you up for another round...?' she purred and Carter briefly thought he recognized the voice.'No more rounds for you, Hermann.' he snapped before things could escalate further.'Am I hearing things again? I would've sworn I heard Carter of all people...' said she.The large man turned his head around and paled almost comically.'Carter? What the heck-?''You are an hour and a half late and Mr Manderley was annoyed enough to send me to fetch you.' the former general snapped in a tone he usually reserved for silly rookies.Faster than he would have thought possible, Gunther rolled around so that his broad back was between Sam and his lover.'Mierda' swore the woman loudly.'Get dressed, Hermann, I need to track down Navarre, too'Surprisingly, this tidbit elicited a brief bark of a laughter from the German, and some more curses from his hidden bedmate.Carter started in surprise as he registered how fast both Gunther and the mystery woman were getting dressed - efficiently and without any distractions.'Where is my gun belt?' the woman asked, her back still to Sam, annoyance clear in her - somewhat familiar - voice.'I think you tossed it in the usual spot last night, Anna' was Hermann's brisk reply.The woman squatted next to the bed only to pull the belt from underneath.'You know, I could try hiding it somewhere else next time...' Gunther joked.'Why?''So that you don't catch up' was the reply.'I forgot you have a sense of humor, ha ha' she said drily.Sam gaped at Navarre as she turned around, belt now on her hips. She walked past him to the kitchen, where she made quick work of the breakfast. Hermann grumbled a bit before doing the same, in such a hurry that he didn't even think of sitting down to eat.Twenty minutes later, Carter was back at the headquarters, impatiently tapping his fingers on Janice Reed's desk.'Carter? Did you locate Hermann and Navarre?' the chief popped his head into the cubicle to ask.Sam nodded.'They should be reporting in any moment now. I was a bit faster since I'd already eaten''Hm. It is unlike Gunther to oversleep.'Carter tried to keep a straight face, but evidently failed at it, since the next question out of Manderley's mouth was:'Or maybe he didn't. Tell me, was he alone?''Uh...' the hesitation probably was answer enough by itself.The quartermaster was then treated to an unique sight of the chief facepalming.'I should have thought of that- possibility- before sending you to fetch Gunther...' he sighed 'I suppose the woman has short black hair, steel gray eyes and is augmented?'Sam choked on air at the perfect description, realizing what Manderley just implied.'Yes, how do you-''Oh, Anna has no filter when it comes to those matters. I had to call her several nights ago due to an intercontinental call, and, well, I will not quote what she said, but suffice it to say, she made it extremely clear what she was doing and with whom' the chief shook his head.Janice Reed tittered from behind her desk.'It's funny in hindsight, but I almost died from mortification, honestly. And I can't fathom how they do it, the whole 'professional at headquarters' thing.' she pointed out.'Somehow they make it work, otherwise I'd have reassigned them, no matter the amount of complaints I would be getting from Navarre'Anna Navarre was in a foul mood. Several days with no one to kill and no real operations were not what she liked. The sex was a nice distraction, but that was all - a distraction. And the paperwork she absolutely hated.She tossed the paper ball she was absently juggling into the bin and walked out of the office, heading for the firing range. She did not look behind - she could count on Hermann following her, now even moreso than in the past months and years.The UNATCO firing range was manned by a rookie whose name she did not know and who looked at her dismissively, probably on the mere basis of her gender. She quickly wiped the smirk off his face by scoring one, two, three hits in succession.Anna heard a low laughter and without looking over, she shot the targets two more times. Only then she let herself glance to the side, at Gunther who was laughing outright at the rookie's dumbfounded expression.'I advise you not to underestimate Agent Navarre' he said levelly before hoisting his own pistol and taking stance in front of the other row of targets.One. Two. Three. Four. Five.'How was that, Anna?' he asked cheekily.'Oh, you're on' she replied before aiming again and again... 'What's the verdict?''Five out of five' said Hermann, completely unsurprised.Instead of using his pistol, he hefted his assault gun - a massive thing that would be more suitable for a bot than a man, that had a hell of a lot of recoil - and sent a series towards the far row of targets.'Pray and spray...' muttered the rookie, to which Navarre rolled her eyes and walked a bit closer once her assigned partner was done.'Nine out of ten' she said loudly enough for the UNATCO man to catch it.The rookie left some time later, clearly having grown bored. Anna and Gunther were too busy with their little rivalry to pay attention, though. The sound of gunshots brought Collins and Carter in.'I should have guessed who's making so much use of the range' the quartermaster groused 'Wasting perfectly good bullets'Collins paid him no attention, focusing his gaze on Hermann instead. He seemed to be breathing heavily, his nostrils flaring. The man put down his rifle, took a couple potshots with the pistol - swearing roundly when one of them missed - and then threw it down with a clatter.In three big steps, he was standing next to Anna Navarre at the counter. She swore when he reached out to touch her shoulder, and her latest shot went astray. Then his large hands fisted in her vest, pulling her up on the counter as he kissed her quite forcefully.'Cheater' Navarre said, but without the usual undercurrent of anger they would have expected in the situation.'That's not cheating. That is...' and Hermann proceeded to say something in his native language, to which Anna smacked his shoulder.'That's definitely cheating...' she said breathlessly, kissing him back.'I don't see you complaining' Gunther snarked.The woman grinned and let him kiss her some more. At some point, her legs wound up around his hips. Collins pressed his hand into his forehead.'Oi, you two! I have half a mind to report you to the chief!' he yelled.Hermann flipped him a rude gesture while his partner simply ignored him.'Reporting won't work' Carter commented. 'Mr Manderley already knows... but probably won't be happy about this morning's stunt combined with... this...''What do you mean Mr Manderley knows?' the corporal asked dumbfounded.'If you were wondering why they were late today, well, they definitely did not just oversleep... and I was sent to fetch them. The chief knew what went on before I managed to get a word out...''Oh god' Collins groaned. 'That's got to be the worst luck in the history of ever, and considering I was in the patrol reacting to a, um, noise complaint at Gunther's last week, that's saying something...''Last week? That somewhat explains the comment Mr Manderley made... something about calling Anna in the middle of the night, and her being very clear about the situation.'The younger man lowered his voice 'Wow, I heard Navarre's weird, that she doesn't really feel things the way we natches do, but that level of detachment really takes the cake. Or maybe it's not detachment, but a complete lack of shame?''Don't you start with that boring 'all augs are whores' nonsense. It's been making the rounds for nearly as long as I've been alive, and I personally know two examples that disprove the theory.''Lemme guess, Anna and Jordan?' Collins rolled his eyes. 'Either way, I agree that the theory's stupid. There's way too many augs in the world for it to be true.'
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters, SF
Janice Reed leaned back to enjoy a rather calm morning, since Mr Manderley was not in today - some sort of a conference or other. A ping of a new mail was enough to distract her, though, so she clicked on it.As expected, it was sent from their internal network, and sent to the entirety of their mailing list - that is, everyone save the chief. The topic was "O-M-G!!!" so she suspected the original author to be one of the sillier girls or alternately one of the new rookies - the others were way too serious.The mail came with an attached picture, so she clicked on it, and for a moment, failed to see the connection with the topic.Gunther Hermann sandwiched in a chair in the relaxation area was nothing unusual, quite the opposite - with his huge frame, most chairs resulted in sandwiching. Then the view shifted a bit to reveal a woman standing in front of him, too busy kissing to notice the person filming. Several seconds into the kiss passed, and then the woman shifted her head enough for the camera to capture her face.Anna Navarre. Zero suprises as far as Janice herself was concerned, but she could see how the majority of UNATCO staff would be shocked by the revelation.And sure enough, less than a minute later, someone had replied with a 'Anna and Gunther sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G', almost immediately followed by 'what are you, five?'Janice cracked up and typed 'Re: the title, someone consistently missed the hints for a week or so' before pressing Send.She was just getting back to work when there was a ping, and the mail said: "I see your pic and raise you this one - Kaplan". The picture was taken in the same spot, but this time, Navarre was the one leaning forward. And the way the camera was zoomed in, they could clearly see it wasn't just any old kiss, but one that involved more than a bit of tongue.There was a flurry of replies to this, mostly variations of "I can't believe my eyes", "MY EEEYEES!", "Did she just French him?", "Tell me this is edited"Less than five minutes passed before Kaplan sent another message. "No, it's not edited. Yes she did. I couldn't believe my eyes either!"The secretary sighed, sitting down to eat in the break room. The place was veritably buzzing with excitement, probably due to the e-mail thread this morning.‘Did you hear, Hermann’s got a woman, or so says Kaplan -you know, the guy from Tech’ said Nikki.All around her, whispers buzzed. Janice was briefly relieved when no one mentioned the kiss caught on camera. Maybe some people didn't pay attention to their e-mails or just did not care to click on the attachment.‘No way! He’s too... y’know...’‘Ugly?’‘No! Too-‘ much waving of hands ‘big!’Janice Reed groaned as the remark provoked more and more suggestive comments on their workmate’s... qualities. Yes, Hermann was a large man - and it probably translated to all aspects of life, one only had to look at his e-mails to see proof in all of the misspelled words due to the large fingers - but did they really have to discuss- this? She might just start suspecting some of her colleagues of harboring a secret crush on him or something...‘Really, he must be hung like a bull, I wonder how big his- thing- is!’A chorus of snickers, and women started illustrating imagined sizes with their hands. Reed shook her head. Adult women, and they behave like immature teenagers when confronted with a whiff of romance.‘Who exactly are you discussing?’ asked a cool voice and Janice looked up into the face of Agent Anna Navarre.‘Agent Hermann’ supplied Nikki helpfully, while Reed tried to subtly kick her under the table.Navarre, for her part, didn’t even bat an eyelid.‘In that case, this big‘ she spread her augmented hands to demonstrate ‘and oh, about this thick’ her fingers formed a lazy ring.‘How do you know?’ another woman asked, and did not seem to notice the secretary desperately shaking her head, trying in vain to put a stop to the conversation.A slow smirk spread on Anna’s face as she sat down. She placed her arms on the table and started sliding her finger through the ring, which made Janice choke and someone else go completely red.‘How do you think I know?’ she said and smirked even more.‘You- -and- -him?!’ the younger woman’s eyes bugged. ‘How can you handle- um’‘Oh, it isn’t a problem. My first was an aug who was augmented in... unconventional places. And we were young and silly, so he obviously went for the biggest size he could....’ Navarre said blandly.'Oi, Hermann!'Gunther sighed and turned around. Just what he needed after a day full of people whispering at the mere sight of him. He'd had enough after fifteen minutes and therefore stuck to his office or the shooting range.'What?' he grumbled.'Finally decided to grace us with your presence, eh? Had enough of your new pastime?''New pastime? What do you mean?' he frowned.'Playing tonsil tennis with A-' the man howled as his friend kicked him in the ankle.'Did you really French kiss her?' the other trooper asked.'You got it wrong, she was the one to-'Hermann felt his face grow warm with the realization that apparently, someone caught them kissing in the morning. He'd have thought that the room was deserted, with how bloody early it was.'Go kiss your own girls, what I do is none of your damn business' he said finally.The two men just chortled.'Aren't you afraid of what she might do if she doesn't like your kisses? I'd be wary of friendly fire on the next mission if I were you...'Gunther laughed out loud.'Next mission? She wouldn't have to wait for the next mission, she could just shoot me in my own bed if she really-'A bit late, his brain caught up to what he was saying, and he bit his tongue, knowing his face probably looked like it was about to burst into flames.'Why would she have a chance to- --ooh.' unfortunately for him, the trooper cottoned on quickly, whistling. 'Hells, Gunther, your balls must be massive for you to be willing to sleep with her. I wouldn't dare!''Hermann's sleeping with someone?' a third person butted in. 'Really?''Really, and I'll thank you for shutting the hell up and stopping butting into my own business' the man himself growled.'What the heck do you see in her?' the second trooper asked. 'I mean, she isn't exactly a beauty- the eye-'An evil glare shut him up quickly. The German couldn't honestly recall when he actually last made use of the fact that most people were afraid of his looks, but this time it worked wonders even on his workmates.'You're asking the wrong person, man' he said, shrugging. 'She went for me even though I'm old and ugly-'The troopers looked at each other at the comment, but thankfully did not continue the conversation.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Baltimore streetsGunther Hermann stepped off a carrier helicopter and was immediately forced to duck under a hail of gunfire. The situation on the ground seemed to be worse than the initial reports indicated. A soft sound, a crunch of a leaf under a boot, was all the indication that his assigned partner was just behind him. A whisper of a command word, and her form shimmered and disappeared from view. The male agent pulled the machine gun off his back and launched a series in the direction the shots had come from. There was a shout, which presumably meant his assailant was dead. He could see in the dark, but not as well as Navarre could.As evidenced by the fact that the men way beyond his sight or weapon range turned up dead, from a single shot he presumed. He nodded briefly to himself. They made a good team, not that he would have ever requested a sniper as a teammate. Anna was more than a sniper, she could hold her own in a close range gunfight, too, and wasn't too bad with a knife, either.They turned a street corner only to see another group of hostiles, and what looked to be civilians at first glance. One of the hostiles fell, then another.Not me, said Navarre in his infolink. That's definitely not civilians.She was proven right as the group spread out more, revealing guns that were, up to now, hidden beneath coats and jackets. The movement left them stuck in the middle, fortunately ignored by the two warring gangs. Some more hostiles fell, but the rivals also suffered casualties.Hermann turned around to glance at Anna, and a minute movement behind her made him still. The other group was, up to now, shooting at the hostiles - but now one of the men turned and aimed straight at her. He launched himself in Navarre's direction, making his strides as long and powerful as possible. They collided, sending his gun skidding a couple of metres along the ground. He almost felt the bullet touch the armor at the nape of his neck, but her safety was more important. She tried to push him off, but he shook his head.Don't! Dangerous! he snarled over the infolink.He was slowly becoming more aware of the fact that there was a woman beneath him. He felt himself stir, but now was not the time. He slid carefully to Anna's side and started crawling towards where his machine gun lay. Once he had a hold of it, he fired a volley. The member of the other gang fell.'Pig!' one of his friends shouted and tried to take aim, only to yell and curl up in pain.Gunther risked a look at his partner. She was now prone and the barrel of her gun was faintly smoking from the heat.'Awesome...' he snarked quietly. 'Flanked by hostiles on both sides. I think I preferred it when they were shooting at each other'He saw a darkened alleyway a slight distance to the side and slowly started to creep towards it. Navarre needed no orders to follow him. Once in the shade of the building, they could stand up. Anna immediately took position on the corner, peeking out and sniping someone. He didn't particularly care which side of the gang war the victim represented.There are UNATCO positions a slight distance to the north, Alex Jacobson's voice sounded in his infolink.Which way is north? he snarked back, as he attempted to provide cover fire for Navarre and multitasking was never his forte.Luckily for them, Alex provided enough of a description for Hermann to realize that following the alley should bring them to their unit. He was proven right as the alley brought them to a barricade manned by five UNATCO troopers, busily shooting at the same motley crowd he and Anna had faced. He heard a bitten-off curse and saw her reach into her belt, where she normally carried extra magazines, and curse again. Without a word, he nodded towards the pistol he had holstered on his hip. After all, his weapon of choice was in no danger of running out, yet. Navarre approached him and pulled the gun from the holster, and looked faintly surprised. He lifted an eyebrow at her.It's... warm? You're- putting off so much heat... she sent over the infolink, trailing off suddenly.Anna looked away, focusing on the enemies. The pistol made a very quiet 'crack!' sound several times in quick succession. At least one of the shots was on target, as evidenced by yells of pain.'Slow down, I don't have any extras!' Gunther yelled over the gunfire.Navarre glanced at him and refocused on the hostiles.
In that case, we'll have to withdraw before long said she in his link.
Anna Navarre shivered as adrenaline slowly wore off. It has been a long time since she was in a shootout as large as this one. The town seemed to be gang turf everywhere, and with a turf war going on. Two of the troopers poked their heads out from behind a barricade. The third UNATCO man manning the front, someone she did not know by name, would not be getting up ever again.The thought made her look around, searching for the one person she definitely would miss if- if something happened. It should have been easy to spot him, given his superior height, but she could not see the familiar gleam of Gunther's augmentations.Agent Navarre turned around, scanning the closest area. No sign of Hermann. Frowning, she retraced her footsteps back to the other barricade, and then around the street corner. He wasn't there either. She walked back around, peeking into every nook and cranny she could. Nothing.'Have you seen Agent Hermann?' she asked the troopers.One of them shook his head, but the other pointed ahead. Of course. Of course he would charge beyond the safe lines, with no regard for his health or life. She followed the road much more sedately than he likely did, taking care to make use of every bit of cover and shadow possible. It would not do to get shot after the fight ended, after all.Anna covered most of the city block, but still, she could not spot her partner. Her one consolation was that he was unlikely to be dead - she'd have found the body already. But he might be wounded...'Gunther?' she called out loud, feeling foolish as soon as his first name left her lips.Heavy footsteps drew her attention and she saw the man himself. He was breathing heavily and leaning towards the wall of the closest building. When Gunther spotted her, he straightened up and started walking towards her, dragging his feet in visible exhaustion.Before she even knew what she was doing, Navarre ran to him. To her relief, there were no wounds, just tiredness. The brief -worry- now over, she felt the heat of battle still in her veins. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, gently, and she felt rather than saw him grin. He kissed her back and his warm large hands tangled in her gun belt as he tried to lift her, or maybe just cup her backside.Hermann laughed and did in fact lift her as soon as he freed one of his hands. Anna supposed she ought to be bothered by the fact he could swing her over his shoulder and carry her off into the night - or rather, into a dark alleyway, but she was not. Her own hands roamed all over his back, and even further down, delving into the back pockets of his uniform trousers.Gunther put her down, and she could feel a wall just behind her back. The way he looked at her made her thighs quake - after all, they were still partly natural. A smirk on his face proved that he could see the effect he had on her even in the low lighting in the alley.The next instant, he pounced on her, his belt already unbuckled. He pressed her against the wall, taller and possibly stronger than her, and if she wasn't so turned on, the rough way he took her would probably hurt. Navarre was never one for soft touches and words, but he seemed to tap into some hidden strength, all primal force.Collins winced at the sight that greeted him on the street. One of their men was very dead. His gaze swept the UNATCO troops, noting that while they looked tired - the battle must have been very long - they had mostly escaped any serious harm.'Where are Agents Hermann and Navarre?' the corporal asked.'She went to find him after the battle ended, as he wasn't at the barricades. No further contact apart from a brief radio message stating that he's OK.''Were they informed that the helicopter has arrived?''Yes, no reply'Collins shrugged, taking it in stride. Neither of the agents was a particularly social person, but shunning the others actively was a bit weird. He felt a brief twinge of worry - who knew what qualified as OK in those two mech's minds? - and decided to go have a little look.Halfway around the block, he came across Navarre, who was evidently heading back. A moment later, Hermann emerged from the alleyway, and Collins barely bit back a bark of laughter.'That sort of behavior really is unbecoming of a UNATCO agent' he said, as mildly as he could.'What behavior?' Anna asked neutrally.The corporal rolled his eyes.'Please. Don't insult my intelligence, Navarre. Your vest is zipped really badly, at least as far as your usual standards go, and your partner over there... well, it's obvious he was getting dressed in a real hurry...' he trailed off, his gaze sliding down to the taller man's waist.Gunther slowly followed his line of sight, and then he scrambled madly to close the fly and finish buckling his belt.Agent Navarre was already past both of them, and she only turned her head and snapped a short "Hurry up!", so the poor German was now forced to multitask.'Would be a pity if you were to miss the flight because you couldn't keep it in your pants' Collins snarked and the older man shot him a dirty look.Unfortunately for the agent, they were almost up to the barricade and the two troopers could see him wrestling with his belt.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Chicago, unspecified location, three days later
Anna Navarre smiled as a shot from her service pistol brought a corporate guard down, permanently most likely.'That's two'Gunther rolled his eyes and slowly crept ahead. There was a startled shout and a staccato burst from his gun.'That's three and four for me' he replied.Navarre smirked at her assigned partner, as yet another hostile fell down after a series from his assault gun.'How about you let me win this time?'Hermann simply shook his head.'Let's put it this way, I lose - you don't get any tonight...' she clarified.Gunther spluttered for a moment, but quickly regained his wits.'Excuse me, but I think it means you are not getting any, too?'He smirked back at her, certain he'd won that round of their verbal sparring. She was tempted to take a swipe at him, but that would be childish.'I can survive... can you?' Anna winked at him.'I've gone without for years, I definitely can. What about you - can you really go without getting laid?'Navarre's first instinct was to say 'I can', but then she hesitated. She did not get to say anything, as the footsteps close by made her snap back to combat mode. Distractions be damned, she slowly crept along the wall only to see a lone hostile. Aiming at his head was second nature. A single shot was enough to kill.'You are distracting, Hermann' she huffed once the coast was clear.'I dare say you like the distractions' he said with a smirk in his voice.'In an hour or so, you'll know the answer' Anna smirked at him.'Is that so? I bet... du bist nass''Nass'? Navarre mentally ran through her inventory of German words... oh. Wet.'Even if, why do you care? You're not going to find out tonight if you don't let me win...''I might not care, but I think you do care' he stared straight at her, making it impossible to miss the meaning. 'And if you keep insisting on spending this night alone, suit yourself. But the bed's gonna be cold and empty.''There are ways to deal with both problems, you know' she said, meeting his gaze.A moment later she realized why this might not have been the best idea. Gunther stared straight at her, with an expression she usually saw in the bedroom. Saying he looked like he wanted to eat her whole was putting it mildly.'I don't think the 'ways' are going to be as... pleasant as the real thing' Hermann said.'And you would know...' Anna replied, belatedly realizing her voice was slowly getting lower - he would know the banter was affecting her.He smirked at her, and then he suddenly brought his pistol up. Navarre whirled around to see three uniformed guards round the corner. She took one down before he could react, her partner shot down the second. The third did get off a shot, but it bounced harmlessly off Gunther's armor. He did not get any more chances, as a bullet to the head - courtesy of the woman - rendered him very dead.'I could show you how pleasant the real thing is, if you change your mind about 'not getting any' tonight' Hermann said while approaching her.Anna knelt to rifle through the guard's pockets, and when she started getting up, she realized he was very very close indeed. Never one to miss a chance, she slowly stood up, adding a bit of a sway to her hips, her hand almost touching his armored legs.'Anna, you tease!...' Gunther hissed in a low, hoarse voice.For a moment, she was tempted to ask him what the German word for a tease was, just for future reference. She decided not to, and instead gave him a completely fake innocent look.'Tease? I don't know what you mean-''Oh, you do. But two can play at that game...'Before she parsed his statement, she found herself pushed towards the wall, bracketed by his strong arms which were close but not quite touching. A glance beyond the corner, just in case more bogeys were coming, and Hermann leaned in, his breath hot on her face. He stopped, however, milimeters away from kissing her, and laughed lowly at what had to be a disappointed look on her face.Then suddenly he changed tack, the teasing became a real kiss. Navarre became peripherally aware of footsteps, someone coughed and walked past them - and a moment later, there was gunfire. Gunther tapped her shoulder gently and she realized that the kiss was a diversion. She untangled herself from him, suddenly thankful for the fact she did not feel shame or embarrasment.Two guards laid face down on the floor some distance past them, and the UNATCO troopers had their guns at the ready, one of them still faintly hot. Who knew that a public display of affection would work so well as a diversion? They might have as well been invisible, the way the guards completely failed to engage them.'It worked?' she breathed out, surprised.'Yeah' her assigned partner said, seemingly as shocked as she was.Anna stood on her tiptoes to wipe a smear of her red lipstick from his cheek. They were almost touching again, their hips so close she could feel the heat radiating from him and see for herself how their banter affected him. Gunther's hand slowly snaked lower, not quite touching her hips.'I can tell how much you liked the talk' he said huskily.'Oh, you'll know exactly how much I liked it in... an hour' she smirked, mentally calculating the time it would take them to reach the objective - the terminal at the end of the corridor - and to get out.She could see Hermann's nostrils flare, another indication that he was as much affected by the banter as she was. She swallowed and forced herself to step back.With a command word, her cloak engaged. The other agent followed, surprisingly quietly considering the amount of metal implanted in his body. The guards that had been distracted by them kissing were seemingly the last ones, as the corridor was completely empty, manual alarm systems rendered useless by the fact that there was no one around to turn them on.The stealth was not necessary at all, they found, as the terminal room was not defended at all. No cameras, nothing. Anna supposed that the owners sunk so much money into the guards and systems earlier that they couldn't afford protecting the very goal. Never mind, it only made their task easier.She booted the computer terminal up, only to be greeted with a prompt for login and password. Rolling her eyes, she used her augmentations 'to pick a third option' - that is, hacking. Several seconds passed and Navarre was presented with an option to download the data, which she gladly took and swiped the disk from the slot as soon as the task was done.Alex fumed in fury, pacing in front of Janice's desk. As soon as he heard booted feet, he whirled around, ready to deliver a tongue lashing... and stopped when he couldn't see his intended targets. Just the troopers who were their support.'Where are Agents Navarre and Hermann? Shouldn't they be reporting in?''Uh, they should, but we were passing Hermann's flat and they decided to skip, after all it is late and the district isn't too... nice.''Because the Augmented District is not too... nice?' Jacobson repeated doubtfully. 'Are you sure that was the whole reason?''Um-' the trooper tried to find words, but Alex did not give him time to do so.'I somehow doubt it, considering what I've heard over their infolinks... That banter was certainly not professional.'The man breathed a sigh of relief.'If you think that was unprofessional, well, that means I am not the weird one here.''Of course it was not, I am surprised that they didn't compromise the mission.' Jacobson seethed.'They certainly compromised themselves' the trooper sniggered. 'Totally forgot we were only a couple steps behind so we could hear the whole conversation, too.'The man suddenly paused and looked at Alex intently.'Wait, you heard that over the infolink? Did it sound what it sounded like to me?''Meaning?' the hacker looked confused.'It sounded like, well, foreplay to me. Uh, um, I know Navarre's not a normal woman, but, really, shooting a guard and then spouting off that sort of explicit stuff seemed to really get her-''TMI!' Jacobson yelped. 'I didn't need to hear that!''You want to tell me you didn't notice how her voice changed the longer it went on? Or how Hermann looked at her like he wanted to eat her? I am willing to bet she was wet within five minutes, and I can't understand how they fulfilled the mission, considering''I seem to recall a kiss being involved in passing several guards?'The trooper actually laughed.'Yeah, they were too busy with their conversation to pay attention to their surroundings, I thought they're gonna fail hard, and then, like magic, the guards stop paying them any attention because they are kissing. That was funny. Made even funnier by the fact they didn't expect it to work!'A cough interrupted their conversation.'Interesting as this is, gentlemen, where are Agents Navarre and Hermann? They have a report to make...' said Manderley's voice.The soldier spluttered for a moment, before finally admitting:'Hermann's flat, sir. It was getting late...''Janice, please make a call, then' the chief said.The trooper spluttered again, but did not dare interrupt.'Now? It's late, sir, and- uh- um-' Reed's voice trailed off into silence under Manderley's unwavering gaze.Clearly reluctant, she dialed Hermann's number and waited several minutes for him to pick up.'Agent Hermann, Mr Manderley wanted me to remind you that- oh- um- err-' the poor secretary's face went flaming red and she was reduced to stuttering.Looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her up, she put the receiver down.'He says he will report in the morning, sir' Janice said finally.'In the morning? Why not now?' Alex asked, feeling that he was missing something.'Um, he's... busy...' the secretary said.Manderley lifted an eyebrow, to which she nodded. Seemingly dropping the topic, he asked:'I heard that you, too, were looking for Gunther. What seems to be the problem? I understand the mission was a success...''Somehow' Jacobson grumbled. 'But I have an issue with his conversations with Navarre during the mission.''An issue?' the chief asked.'The conversation was definitely...' the security expert struggled for words.'Interesting' the trooper supplied. 'And it makes me wonder what does Hermann's definition of 'busy' entail? Quite possibly, um, a woman?'Alex's eyes bulged.'You think they're- right now-?'The soldier laughed at his expression.'I am almost certain they are, given how he kept looking at her. The things she kept saying were certainly not a deterrent, quite the opposite''You mean- oh, that's what you meant when you said 'foreplay' ...' Jacobson finally cottoned on.Then he hastily bit his tongue, as he realized what exactly they were discussing in front of the chief. His only hope was that since no names were directly mentioned, Mr Manderley wouldn't know.'I can assure you that Hermann's definition of 'busy' does in fact include a woman, and given Janice's expression, I am almost sure your predictions are right' said the chief, squarely dashing the hopes. 'A word of advice, gentlement: UNATCO does not have a policy against fraternizing, but it might make a policy against... excessively detailed gossiping, let me put it this way. If that was the case, Mr Jacobson here would already have strike one on his record sheet. Consider yourself warned.'Alex's eyes bulged as he realized that the chief knew exactly what was going on under his nose. Not that he thought that Mr Manderley was stupid, but still, it wasn't like Anna and Gunther advertised the fact... so far.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
UNATCO headquarters, SF
Anna Navarre walked into the office she shared with Gunther only to spot a vase of flowers on her desk. She made a face - why would she be receiving flowers at all? - before recalling that today is 14th February, Valentine's Day. At least the flowers were not roses or anything cliche like that. They were a dark purple, almost black, and shaped like a deep chalice.A small note in a familiar handwriting said:
Dark and dangerous...
Navarre found herself smiling as she thumbed the soft petals. She put the vase back down and started preparing for the day, only to spot something unexpected in her drawer. She almost raised the alarm, as protocol dictated, before carefully sliding it open - and seeing a new gun holster, made from black leather and with small embossed letters on the bottom.No one's gonna steal this - said the second card, and as she picked the holster up to check, she realized the letters were her own initials.Anna grinned at the thoughtfulness and she unstrapped her own holster to compare. It was the perfect match when it came to both size and the belt fastenings. However did Gunther get a perfect copy made? She shook her head, impressed, and slipped her service gun into the new holster before looping the belt through the fastenings. It fit exactly like the old one did.Smiling even wider, she picked up a flower or two and walked over to Jordan Shea's office.'Hi, Jordan. Do you know what this might be?' Navarre asked without preamble.'Wow, nice flowers!' her fellow agent exclaimed 'The color really fits you... let me see... I think those are purple calla lilies, but I am not a florist, you know.''The note said 'Dark and dangerous', are those poisonous? Should I handle them in gloves or something?''Nah, I think they're fine as long as you don't try to ingest them. I see lots of white callas used as decoration, you know.''What are you talking abo- Anna, is that a flower?!' a third voice cut into the conversation.Anna turned around to see Shannon, a somewhat silly girl from Engineering.'Yes, it's a flower, Shannon' she rolled her eyes, stating the obvious.'Oooh, Anna has an admirer!' the other woman's blue eyes grew impossibly big before she flitted out of Shea's office before either agent could stop her.'Oh god no' Shea moaned. 'She's a real gossip, within ten minutes everyone will know about the supposed admirer...' she lowered her voice 'It is Hermann, right?'Navarre nodded and ran her hand over the new holster.'Look what he got me, too. The flowers were nice, but that is nicer!'Jordan let out a long whistle.'Did he steal your original holster while you were asleep or what? It looks like a perfect copy!''It is a perfect copy, as far as I can tell' Anna grinned.She left the room to put the flowers back in the vase, and somehow managed not to run into anyone. In the back of her mind, she was hoping to see Gunther in the office, but he seemed to have made himself scarce, probably unsure how the gifts would be received. To be frank, Navarre supposed throwing the flowers back at him would have been a perfectly valid reaction, too.Unfortunately for her peace of mind, Jordan's prediction turned out to be true. Within half an hour, she had women crowding her office just to check 'if Navarre really received flowers'. Anna smiled to herself, stretching out more. She kept her boots and, obviously, the new holster, but did not otherwise wear a stitch of clothing. To be completely frank, she couldn't wait to see Gunther's expression when he saw her. The vase of purple flowers caught her eye, and as an afterthought, she pulled out one and stuck it between her teeth.The bedroom door creaked open, but she pretended not to hear it. A sharp intake of breath betrayed Hermann's presence, though, and she peered up at him. The sight forced a startled laughter from her, as it seemed they'd both had the same idea - he was buck naked and was holding a second flower in his teeth.'Mein Gott...' he hissed around the stem, and she could clearly see how much he liked the show.Gunther carelessly threw the flower aside and made to climb on the bed, before stopping midway through the motion and making a 'wait' gesture. When he came back, he was holding a photo camera Navarre did not even know he owned.'That's a sight I'm gonna treasure as long as I'm alive...' he breathed out, before training the sights on her and clicking the button.Anna did not smile at the somewhat cheesy line. 'As long as I'm alive', in their line of work, could mean years or months, but could as well mean days. She reached out a hand for the camera and stuck the flower back between his teeth, with a wink.Navarre could actually feel his breathing stutter as he realized where this was going. She waited patiently for him to arrange himself before taking a photo - and scowled briefly as she realized the zoom meant it cut off part of his face.'What?' Hermann, obviously, caught her frown.Instead of answering, she passed him the camera. When he saw the photo, he laughed.'I like that mystery man' he said, still laughing. 'The question is, do you?....'She actually laughed at the question, but it was cut short by his pouncing on her. The matching purple flowers were promptly discarded, forgotten, as Gunther palmed her new holster carefully.'It's empty' Anna breathed.'A pity. I might've liked playing with fire' he said with a grin that practically lit her on fire when she saw it.'Mmm, 'dark and dangerous'?' she winked, throwing the words from the card back at him.'Maybe, do you like the gift?' he asked, a bit apprehensively.Navarre lifted herself off the bed to press a bruising kiss to his large mouth.'I'm gonna- keep it on- the whole night' she breathed between kisses. 'That's how much I like it... Alex watched as the new recruit went through the final task of the hacking course. The goal was to hack someone's e-mail account here on UNATCO servers, and retrieve a message. Only the new guy would know whose mailbox he hacked, and he was free to retrieve whatever he wished.The guy was apparently successful, as he whistled happily at the computer screen, only to mutter to himself, evidently browsing through messages and trying to decide what to snag. A minute passed, and then a second.'Made up your mind yet? Real detection systems would be up to you already!' Jacobson sniped.'Mmm. Can't figure out whose mailbox this is, but this looks the most interesting. 'Your Valentine'... Funny for one of ours to get such a message, I am downloading it now...'Several seconds passed, and a beep announced the file downloaded successfully. The recruit grinned and logged out of the system just in the nick of time.'Should I open it?''Yes, we'll see if it's a real file, sometimes people spoof the system' the security expert explained.Two clicks brought the e-mail message up, or rather, two messages sent in quick succession today. The first one made Alex frown, it had no text, just an image attachment.Before he could warn the kid about possible viruses, he opened the image happily, only to freeze up completely. Jacobson's heart rate kicked up. Did the newbie just introduce a virus into the system?He pressed a button. File came back as clean and a real image file. Curious, Alex peered over the newbie's shoulder and promptly spat out the tea all over the desk.The image turned out to be a still of a woman, naked except for tall black boots and a gun belt around her hips. Her expression was difficult to read around the flower in her teeth. He zoomed in on it, only for the recruit to splutter in disappointment - was he hoping for pixelly bits? The flower turned out not to be a rose, but some sort of a dark, almost black blossom. It matched the woman's dark hair and boots, Jacobson had to admit.The second mail had a short caption:'I liked the gift more than the flowers'No signature, and neither of the two messages was sent from the UNATCO servers. The address seemed somewhat familiar to Alex but he could not recall offhand who used it - but the number of people who could actually send mail to the staff on-site was very very small. If he had to, sniffing out the sender wouldn't be an issue.That message also had a picture attached. Immediately, both Jacobson and the trainee knew the woman in both pictures to be the same one. In this clip, the woman was lying on her side, showing off a gun holster on her hip... and, seemingly by accident, quite a bit of her nether regions. The clip was animated, they realized as the woman shifted slightly and the embossed letters on the bottom part of the holster came into focus.Alex immediately regretted taking a second sip of his late night/early morning tea, as he promptly spewed it all over the desk once again. The letters were initials, and he was now certain of the woman's identity, and he could take a very good guess at who the receiver was, too.'Oh god, kid, what possessed you to download those messages?' he groaned, remembering that the files would be visible to everyone come morning, along with the recruit's evaluation (top marks or very close).'What, you know who the AN is? I'd love to know the woman who prefers a holster to flowers...' the new guy whistled.'I know, and I know who her lover is, and let me tell you, you'll be exceedingly lucky if you survive tomorrow...' Jacobson said ominously.