Sharon Carter is a super spy (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} exshieldagent) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} momadness_log,@ 2021-09-04 19:05:00 |
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What: Sharon’s got some spy shit to do, and Zari’s along to look pretty
When: Friday, Sept 3
Where: Madripoor
Warnings: Some violence
Status: Completed via Gdoc
It’d been a long flight. Sharon made sure to pack cards and crosswords, and all the electronics they could want. There were in-flight movies, too, but by the time they landed in Madripoor--even after the transfer and the luxury seats--Sharon’s backside was numb. She was sore. Thankfully they had plenty of time to recover before the big event.
In the hotel room in Hightown, Sharon had unpacked many of her things, and was going through a weapons check and electronics check, making sure that everything was in perfect condition. They only had one shot at this, so she wanted to make sure that a technological malfunction wasn’t going to be their downfall.
She glanced up as Zari came into the room. “Hey, gorgeous. Are you just about ready?” It was a shame they couldn’t spend more time exploring Hightown. But this wasn’t a vacation. This was a work trip.
While Sharon got down to business in preparing for tonight, Zari did the same, but in an admittedly different fashion. Literally. While working on her hair and makeup, she mentally went through the list of movers and shakers who were likely to be in attendance. Of course her main focus would be on Tiger Tyger, but it paid to know who the other players on the board were. When she wasn't sleeping on the plane ride over, she'd been drilling the information in her head. And also checking on Sharon from time to time, just to make sure her friend was all right.
Zari wasn't sure what was at stake here, but she didn't want things to go wrong because of something she did or said. Emerging from the lavish bathroom, she looked up right as she was sliding her gold necklace into place and grinned. "As I'll ever be. Are you sure I'm the distraction tonight? You look stunning."
Sharon gave a little smirk. “Don’t be silly.” She’d put on a little black dress with green trimmings--fancy enough to fit in with the crowd, but otherwise fairly unremarkable. She looked good in it, sure, like all the others at the Gala would… yet she could easily fade into a crowd. That was the goal of someone who worked undercover: disappear. Be present, but unremarkable. Forgettable. The only remarkable thing about her outfit were the reasonable heels and the thigh holster that was only barely perceptible if one was looking for it. (Or feeling for it.)
“All right, it’s just about time. The car should be here in ten. Here’s your earpiece. We’ll do a quick trial run to make sure they’re connecting us. So long as we’re not more than a floor away from one another, they should still be able to connect. Are you armed?” Sharon had weapons in three sizes if Zari wanted to slip something into her purse or if she had another place to conceal it.
Just the sight of the array of weaponry was enough to impress upon Zari the sheer weight of the situation like nothing really had before. The barest ripple of unease went through her mind, but she didn't let it show in the slightest. Her confidence mask was fully in place as she slipped the miniscule comms device into place. It nestled unobtrusively and oh so subtly just inside her ear. She had to laugh, however, at the mention of carrying a weapon, and held up her wrist where her Totem went beautifully with her red dress. "I'm always armed. Just not conventionally."
She grabbed her clutch, which had her omnipresent phone and a cooked-up ID that would pass basic scrutiny, and nodded to the door. "Why don't I leave first, and we can test it from here to the elevators? If it cuts off before I get on, we'll know there's an issue."
Sharon nodded. That was a good plan. She said a gentle word into her earpiece, and it came through clear in Zari’s. Then Sharon started packing up the weapons into their lockbox, then slipped it under the bed. A moment later she picked up her own little clutch and headed out of the room. Zari was down the hall near the elevator. “Are you still reading me?” She asked, sure that Zari could hear her loud and clear. She headed down the hall with a little smirk on her face.
Together they headed down and climbed into the car that was waiting for them on the street. It was about a fifteen minute ride to the bank, which was situated in Hightown. Sharon spent the time chatting with Zari animatedly about the different landmarks. She’d lived here for a little while before the portals started to show up. She’d made some contacts, though she wasn’t expecting to see any of them tonight.
When they got out of the car and wandered up into the building, there were flash bulbs going off left and right, and a red carpet under their feet. Sharon had a pleasant smile, but she was really plain. Something about the way she carried herself was ordinary. Forgettable. She didn’t stand out in the slightest. She left that for Zari.
“Get noticed,” Sharon said, leaning in a little before the cameras all turned their way. “I’ll meet you inside.” And then she faded into the crowd to make her way inside.
Just that brief comms test went a long way to alleviating a lot of Zari's nerves. She'd forgotten what a comfort it could be to have a friendly voice literally in her ear. It wasn't until they were on the elevator and going down that she even realized that her Legends comm was still in there, tucked deep. Far-flung future tech for the win—for all the good it did her now. At least it wasn't interfering with the one Sharon had given her. That would have been a disaster.
But a disaster is what this night would not be!
As they neared the drop off point for the Gala, Zari was completely in the zone. All it took was for one camera to find her, and then the rest turned like a glittering sea. She could read it on their faces: they didn't know who she was, but she was clearly someone. By the end of the night, they would know. She'd made sure of that before the plane had even taken off. Every couple of steps was another photo opp, and Zari paused every time. There wouldn't be a single bad photo in the bunch. (Now was NOT the time to remember the last time she'd walked a red carpet and just how horrible that day had gone. It was all Marie Antionette's fault, anyway, and the headless hellspawn wasn't there to ruin everything.)
Her smile nearly slipped, deepening into real amusement, but she'd already walked the gauntlet and emerged to a bank of shiny elevators. From there, it was a speedy trip to the penthouse and the party itself. This was where the "get noticed" bit really came into play. In a sea of formal attire and glittering jewelry, her solid red and peek of one very long leg drew quite a bit of attention as she entered, pausing briefly to be Seen, and then moving into the room and among the guests like she belonged there. Because she did. (In her time.)
They simply needed a preview of things to come.
Heads turned. Sharon watched them from her position deep within the room. She’d grabbed a glass of champagne from a server with a tray and was grinning as she heard people whispering about Zari. This was definitely a distraction. The woman was sex and fire and exactly what Sharon needed.
“When I said to make a distraction, I had no idea you were going to take the whole show.” Sharon said gently into her glass without sipping, confident that her earpiece would pick it up and Zari could hear every word. “I’m headed farther in. Tiger Tyger is at your six. It would be great if you could distract her. If you’re desperate, just ask whoever you’re speaking with what time it is, followed by Is that all, I thought it was midnight already. I will be at your side in two minutes or less.”
Then Sharon moved toward the employee stairwell. It was still early on in the night, but quite easy for her to slip through practically unnoticed, use a device from her purse to mimic the magnetic keycard and let her onto the elevator, and down she went.
Zari didn't react or respond, except to begin making a circuit around the room. A woman like Jessán Hoan wasn't the type that one merely walked up to uninvited. Oh, she was polite and smiling, but her eyes saw and calculated everything in an instant. Zari's thorough research hadn't failed her in that respect. And she'd already captured the Tiger's attention, albeit subtly. That much was clear from the handful of times she'd been able to watch Jessán from some kind of reflection or another. Snagging a glass, she watched the ebb and flow of the party, watching for—
The man had a barrel chest and the kind of bombastic confidence that spoke of a lot of money, but little to show in the way of power. Just the type she needed to create a bit of a scene. All she had to do was time things just right. And she did. Zari knocked right into his shoulder as he was turning. She was clearly in the wrong, and he was about to let her know it in the most belittling way he could. He even got so far as getting his mouth open before she turned the full force of her glare at him and snapped, "Bir xanım gəzərkən özünüzə diqqət edin."
He actually took a step back, stunned and eyes the size of saucers to have heard his native tongue from so unexpected a source. A couple of seconds of awkward sputtering passed, and then he muttered an apology and slunk in another direction. Zari watched him go with a placid expression, and when she turned, Jessán was watching her fully, a smile of solidarity curving her lips. Tiger Tyger stepped closer. "I'm not certain what you said to him, but it was more than worth it for the look on his face." The woman chuckled lightly before looking at Zari again, gaze openly appraising. "I'm Jessán."
They exchanged a smile that told Tiger Tyger they both knew who she was. A sudden shift and press of the crowd prompted the relative unknown to take a step closer. Jessán didn't seem to mind "I'm Z."
The elevator doors opened on to Sharon's floor. A series of subbasements filled with offices and living quarters existed a few floors below the main lobby. Sharon knew that Jessán kept a private office down here. The intel she'd gotten from the United States Government had come that far. But they hadn't been able to infiltrate this far into the bank. Probably because their idea of subtlety was sending in the president and a few tanks.
Sharon moved along down the hallway, teetering slightly. She was fully aware of her surroundings, but putting on a show for anyone who might be watching. And she dug around in her little clutch, as if searching for something.
A very large man in a uniform came around the corner and paused in his tracks. "You're not supposed to be down here," he commented, moving closer toward the seemingly drunk woman. "You're supposed to be upstairs."
"Oh," Sharon looked up and broke into a sloppy smile. "I was just looking for the ladies..." Then she gave a little stumble toward him.
While the man let his guard down and reached forward to catch her, Sharon took hold of his arm. She deftly swung her body weight and kicked her leg around, swiping his legs out from underneath him. He hit the floor with a thump, flat on his back. All of the wind knocked out. Sharon drew a small rod from her purse and gave it a flick. The device elongated to a baton, which she used to smash the security guard upside the head. He lay still.
That definitely put a timer on things. Sharon stood upright and clicked the baton back to the small size as she hurried down the hallway. She probably had about ten minutes before the security guard was found. His presence alerted her that she was on the right track. The heaviest and most expensive looking door was bound to be Jessán's. Once Sharon found it, she drew out her magic key card to mimic the magnetic code once again, and she was admitted into Jessán's office.
At the same time Sharon was getting her superspy on—not that her partner would know it—Zari was well on her way to captivating the otherwise chilly Jessán. It was kind of sad, because the woman was exactly the sort she would have genuinely loved to have in her circle of business associates. Possibly even friends? They'd fallen into talking around their respective companies and the pitfalls of being a woman in the corporate world. Everything Z had told the other woman was true, more or less, and could be backed up by a search into her burgeoning company and follower count. Sure, some of the minor numbers were a bit of a clever fabrication and artful inflation, but so long as no one went so far as to look at the metadata, she would be fine.
Jessán barely had to gesture when Zari's glass got low, and a server—whose sole job was probably waiting to be called for anything that might be needed during the evening—unobtrusively came over with a tray. They took their drinks at the same time, which in and of itself was a power play. It was frankly gratifying to get the smirk over the edge of her glass that Jessán sent her way. "This is around the time of the evening where I make my customary escape to the terrace." Zari had to wonder if that was her polite dismissal, but she hadn't needed to worry. "Would you care to join me? The view is lovely from up here."
This wasn't one of those situations that called for her to initiate any kind of physical connection, so Zari simply inclined her head. "I would love to."
When Sharon stepped into the office and closed the door behind herself, their earpieces went dead. Turns out, Jessán's office downstairs was built inside a Faraday cage. Just one more precaution for the slightly paranoid Hoan, but it wasn’t anything that Sharon couldn’t work around. Though, she was a little nervous that Zari might be concerned upstairs.
It was a lavish office with mahogany and worn leather, dark, velvet curtains, gently glowing candelabras. Actually, it was pretty disgusting, Sharon thought. All display of wealth with no class. Then again, she’d spent time in Hightown, she should be used to it by now. She moved through the lobby and toward the open office door, but stopped when she caught something flickering out of the corner of her eye. A small red pinprick against the opposite wall. Another protection for the paranoid Jessán. Sharon followed where the light would be streaming across the room, and found the source. A laser beam that would likely set off either a silent signal or alarm claxxon when the beam was broken. Sharon hadn’t actually been prepared for this one, though it was easy enough to avoid. Sharon climbed around the first one, keeping an eye out for any additional traps. The second was seen and avoided just as easily, but the third… Sharon nearly tripped over it. Nearly. Three of the same trap, easily avoidable, in a row. It didn’t seem smart. Then again, Jessán was a little over the top--the youngest in her generation of the crime family, all flair and no substance.
Once Sharon was in the office, she was convinced she was clear of the boobytraps. She moved around to the computer on the desk and set to work, booting it up and working her way past the passwords and firewalls. Instead of searching for the information she wanted, she merely plugged her USB drive in, and took a snapshot of the hard drive--anything that used the codename Jabberwocky. She dug around through the files while she waited for the drive to copy.
The view from the terrace really was spectacular. Zari leaned against the glass and steel barrier between her and the glittering island city below, breathing in the cooling air with its slight sea salt tang. She could feel Jessán's gaze on her, the weight of it settling between her shoulders. When she turned around, she wasn't surprised in the slightest to find the terrace empty save for the two of them and a handful of bodyguards.
Sure enough, Jessán was staring at her, assessing, curious, slightly wary, and a little enthralled. Perfect. The edge of Zari's mouth quirked up as she leaned back against the sturdy metal bar that was the only thing really separating her from the open air and a long, deadly fall. "Is this where you tell me you've never met a woman like me?"
Jessán's answering laugh was low, dangerous. She might have been wearing a smile, but the glitter in her eyes wasn't amusement. All she had to do was take two steps, and she was crowding Zari back further against the railing. "No, Z. This is where I tell you that I am a very powerful woman in Madripoor, and if you should have an accident up here, I know no one would look twice at me."
Zari's surprise wasn't nearly as affected as she would have liked, and the way her hands wrapped around the other woman's forearms where they now bracketed her was out of necessity rather than artifice. She had no idea if Sharon could hear this little exchange, but right now was the time to operate like she was on her own. "I'm a very safety conscious person, Jessán. What can I do to avoid any unnecessary accidents?"
The way Jessán's smile sharpened sent yet another chill down her spine. "You can try to convince me that you have nothing to do with the intruder down in my office right now."
The drive copied over a lot faster than Sharon imagined it was going to. She pulled the USB, then tidied after herself before heading out of the office. It was a short trip across the outer room of the office, and she slipped through the door without incident.
Or, so she thought. When Sharon was on the other side of the door, she came face to face with two armed security guards, guns drawn. One of them stepped forward.
"Arrêtez vous là," he snarled as he moved forward. Hand lifting to reach for her arm. The other guard stepped forward, too, keeping the gun trained on Sharon.
"Je ne veux pas vous blesser," Sharon said, calculating as she glanced between the two of them. She didn't give them much time to react, though. As soon as the first large guard's eyes flicked to his buddy, Sharon reached up, and, with a couple of quick, practiced, jerking movements, she took his weapon from him. Thankfully her skirt was short enough that she could kick him in the gut as she did so, knocking the air from his lungs.
The second guard fired his weapon, though with the first guard stumbling backward toward him, his aim was off. The bullet barely missed Sharon, and embedded in the heavy door behind her. She turned around on the spot, using her momentum to bring the weapon in her hand around with great velocity and power, and there was a crack! as it connected with the side of the second guard's head. He crumpled in the hallway while the first guard continued to stumble back over him. He tripped, fell, and hit the ground hard.
Sharon reached down and collected the second gun. Then she gave the remaining awake guard a swift kick to the head. He went still.
That’s when she heard Zari’s voice in her ear. Something about avoiding accidents?
“Fuck, shit,” she griped, then turned to head down the hall at a run. Back in the opposite direction she’d come--to the freight elevators on the far end.