Locksley, Potter, and Athos 2

David bent over and laid the blanket over Sara's sleeping form. She had finally fallen asleep, the events of the morning dragging her into unconsciousness. Her sleep was peaceful at the moment, but he wondered how long that would last. He knew she occasionally had nightmares before this morning's incident, and now they would probably only get worse.

The door behind him opened and he turned to see their fellow co-worker, Lucian, poking his head in. David straightened and exited the room, making sure to shut the door as quietly as possible. Once outside the room, he noticed that another co-worker, Alice, was also outside, her face a mask of worry.

"How is she?" Alice asked.

David sighed and answered, "She's sleeping. Peacefully, for now, but that probably won't last." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Why did he call her 'Robin'?" Lucian asked.

"What are you talking about?" David replied.

"That guy, he kept calling her 'Robin', which is not her name; but he acted like he knew her."

"Yeah," Alice chimed in, "and she kept calling him 'Potter'. I thought his name was Harry."

David looked at them incredulously, "You two heard all of that?"

"Yeah. Sorry, boss, but we had to know what was going on in there." Lucian replied.

David sighed again, closed his eyes, and leaned his head back against the wall. He stayed that way, for a moment, not uttering a word. Lucian and Alice stayed quiet as they waited for him to answer. Finally without opening his eyes said, "What I'm about to tell you never leaves this hallway. Under no circumstances is anyone to know what I tell you, even Sara. Got it?"

The two replied in unison, "Got it."

"Before Sara came to work for us, she was a student and Patton Academy. She, along with two other students became friends. They did everything they could together. They were the top of their individual classes, but they were even better as a team. Any team exercise they dominated. They were unstoppable.

Subsequently, a government agency took note of them and offered a job as agents. Each of them shared a love for ancient literature, and that was reflected in their code names. Sara, a fan of the tales of Robin Hood, was named Locksley; but the other two just called her Robin. Harry, as joke, was named Potter, after a children series that had a character with that name. And the third member, the leader, was named Athos. His name came from the tale, The Three Musketeers, and the brooding character suited him.

Years went by and they did a great service for the Alliance; but something happened. During a mission that went south, Athos was killed in an explosion. At least, that's what everyone thought. Potter refused to believe it. He was convinced that Athos was still alive; and that the mission had been rigged from the start. He went of the reservation. Eventually he was branded a criminal. Sara, now without her two best friends, was discharged from her contract and hired soon afterwards by Mr. Reynolds. The rest you know."

He opened his eyes and stared at Alice and Lucian for a moment, gauging their reactions. They were both staring at him. Lucian, he could tell, was still processing the story. Alice, on the other hand, was staring at him with a look of comprehension and horror.

"You're him. That guy was telling the truth. It all makes sense now." she muttered.

Lucian looked at questioningly, "What are you babbling about?"

Alice pointed at David, "He is Athos. He must have had reconstructive surgery or something."

Lucian glanced at David. "What makes you say that? You don't have any proof. You didn't even know the guy."

"You didn't see them when Sara first met him." Alice countered, turning to face Lucian, "She acted like she didn't know him, because as far as she is concerned, she doesn't; but he had this look of concealed recognition and relief on his face. I always thought it was odd, and now I know why."

Lucian pondered this for moment. Then they both looked at David, who had stood quietly the entire time. He was staring at the floor and looked very tired.

Lucian spoke, "Is she right, boss?"

"Yes." was the whispered reply. "and heaven help you if I ever find out you tell her."

The Infiltration

He stared at the 3-D display before him. The subtlest path to the tower was highlighted for him. As he stared at the path he ran through scenarios that could arise. He also contemplated, briefly, bringing someone else in. No, it would be best if he did this alone. Infiltrating the citadel alone would be hard, but not impossible. Adding another person would add more opportunities for things to go wrong. Most importantly, it would open him up to betrayal; something he had experienced before and never wanted to experience again. Ever.

He sighed and leaned a little more on his hands. On the other hand, having another person could speed things up. The timing had to be perfect. The High Protector would only be gone from the tower for an hour at most, and he had to be in and out of the citadel before then. If the journey to the tower was off by even a minute, he would be captured and killed. The Protector had an uncanny ability of knowing everything that was going on in the citadel while he was in it.

This was not going to be easy, but it had to be done. The outcome would be worth it. Well, it would be if he was successful.

Insubordination

"That's still not an excuse for her behavior."

"What behavior, sir? She did what was needed and saved lives."

"She disrespected a superior officer, disobeyed a direct order from said superior officer, assaulted an unarmed civilian, blew up a building thereby endangering civilian lives, and freed a criminal from custody."

"That's one way of looking at it, yes sir."

"One way of looking at it?! What in heavens man! How else should her actions be looked at?"

"Well, the criminal she freed was a wrongly accused man who was instrumental in today's success, for it was a success mind you. The building she blew up was an enemy stronghold that was more of a danger the lives of those civilians if left standing that it was being blown up. The unarmed civilian was an assassin sent to kill our Council Leader. Sir."

"What about her disrespect and disobedience of a superior?"

"Since you asked, sir, if the superior had been so superior, he would have taken her actions himself instead of leaving them to be carried out by a junior officer."

And that was the end of it...

 And that was the end of it. The mission was over. Now they would go their separate ways, not seeing or speaking to each other until the next mission. It was better that way. No attachments. Just meet, get the job done, and go home.It was safer too. If one person was captured or compromised, they could give very little information on their associates. Yes, it made trust a little hard; but that was they way it had to be.