To say things were hectic was an understatement. Ever since the attack, everyone was on edge. Rose had just finished getting as much information out of those that had been there during the attack as she could for the moment and was headed back to her office. Her mind was going over what each of them had said, putting the pieces back together. She knew a lot of others were doing the same but she sometimes liked to hear things herself.
She was walking past Matt’s office when she heard him call out, she paused turning and pushed his ajar door all the way open and tilted her head.
“What’s up?” She asked entering all the way.
There had been other direct attacks made by COS over the last three years, some he’d been around for and some not, but the most recent attack against Intake felt different. Coupled with the missions of the past two months, Matt knew that there was more to this than a simple one-off attack. Plus, Intake had been destroyed, and that was no small matter.
He was going over his notes when he caught a glimpse of Rose walking by, and he called to her. “The agents that attacked Intake yesterday,” he started. “I was part of the group that went out after them.” He’d sustained a handful of bruises, and his knee was wrapped up, but thankfully no one was seriously injured.
“No agents were captured, but we did get good looks at them.” He was looking down at a file and flipped it around so that she could see. It showed a picture of the same agent they’d spoken of that had been seen on previous missions. “I got a good look, and he was there.”
“You’re joking.” She knew he wasn’t, and she didn’t mean it that way, it was just a little bit of a shock to her.
“And you got a good look at him?” She really was starting to wonder how much this agent knew and how much they’d known on the past missions. “This current push must be a lot bigger to send someone who we know is heavily involved with their operation.”
Frowning she really didn’t like what she just said as she looked at the picture. “Well, shit.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve attacked or damaged Intake, but this felt more organized.” Matt hadn’t been in the department or the base when the initial attack occurred, but he’d heard the reports on his radio soon after they happened. When the agents were spotted on the roads leading out of the city, he’d been quick to take off after them.
“That coupled with the destruction of the roads, I feel as if they’re preparing for something more. It’s as if they’re ensuring we have no other means of getting to safety.” If people wanted to return home, they couldn’t, nor could they leave the city except by way of Mako.
“I don’t like this at all.” All he knew to do at this point was to keep their guard up, post more security, and keep digging into past files to see what they could uncover.
“It is more coordinated,” Rose agreed nodding.
“Trying to lock us in for something,” she guessed with a shrug. “Security is up, but it seems they have a few tricks we haven’t been able to figure out.” Which she didn’t like but she had to admit it, that was a problem. She didn’t have a solid idea of what they’d attack next, but she bet they’d try and get to the vault seeing as the tools were there.
“I want to know who that guy is and what his position in all of this is, if we could capture him we might be able to get an upper hand, he’s been around a lot of the missions already.”
Matt didn’t say it outloud, but the move was genius. Keeping them blocked in, including those that weren’t necessarily inclined to fight, and forcing them to go on the defensive. While he knew that they’d need to repair Intake as quickly as they could, he didn’t necessarily like the idea of committing too many resources to the project so that it would keep people distracted that were needed more elsewhere.
“Me too. I’ve been pouring over the files we have of the missions he’s been spotted but also what we know of other instances where we’ve had direct contact with their agents. It’s not an exact match, but I believe he may have been involved in the first kidnapping instance as one of the interrogators.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me if he was one of the interrogators.” She hated knowing the best thing they could do is talk to those that were still here from that kidnapping but they might know something.
“If I remember right, Stark, Pike, Maximoff, Spinnet, Alicia Spinnet,” she added as there were a number of them. “Rey and Griffin were all kidnapped and are still here.” That was actually a very healthy number. “There were questions asked in the second one as well right?” She frowned, she’d read the report but had sent Logan’s team that way while she stayed with the kidnapping one in the latest mission.
“Griffin and Alica were both kidnapped on that one too, they might be the best place to start if this agent was at both potentially.”
Matt looked over the names listed in the files as Rose mentioned them, looking to see if anyone still here had specifically stated that they’d encountered the agent. Nothing was in the specific file he was looking through, but there were more detailed accounts of the individuals that had been kidnapped, and there could easily be more information there.
“Yes, both kidnappings involved questions and interrogations.” He frowned at the thought but kept his thoughts to himself. He didn’t want to force either of them, or any of them, to relieve their experiences again, but it would help if they had confirmation.
“Here,” he said and made a few keystrokes at his computer. “I’ll do more research into the first kidnapping if you’ll look more into the second. I’ve just sent you over the complete file.” He also passed over the paper folder. “This may be helpful, but it’s a general summary of what happened, not the full detail. If we are able to narrow down who may have seen him, it may be helpful to know which questions were asked during his interrogations each time and if there were patterns.”
“We should talk to them,” Rose pushed lightly. She didn’t want to push it but it was the most logical step to take past looking at files and records they had. Something they might say might trigger a memory and she knew it.
Nodding she took the file and opened it up flipping through a few pages skimming them. “There could be some good clues in it.” She agreed as she skimmed one more page before shutting the folder and looking up at Matt.
“Are you okay?” She asked a little more directly, nodding towards his knee but she did mean more in general.
“You’re probably right,” he admitted. “I can touch base with the doctors they’ve been working with and then reach out to them to see if there’s any information they may have that’s been missed.” Everyone understood the urgency, and though he didn’t know Clarke or Alicia well, they were agents, and they wanted to take COS down as much as anyone.
“I’ll be alright.” His knee was sore, but he’d gotten by on worse. The injuries of those who had gone after COS and those at the base could also have been a lot worse. Intake may have been destroyed, but he was grateful that no one was more seriously injured than they were.
“I’m more bothered that we weren’t able to capture any agents. Every one of them escaped.”
Nodding, she wasn’t going to push it anymore, she didn’t need to. She knew Matt would follow through, it was one of the reasons she liked working with him, or rather, for him as it was.
“The other groups out didn’t get anyone either?” Rose didn’t know all the details, but that was concerning. “Did they pull one of those weird vanishing things or was it partly due to the surprise of the attack and coordination?” She wondered if they’d taken for granted the seemingly safe feel the city always had, well, outside of the odd moments of people turning into stuffed animals.
Matt simply shook his head. None of the agents were caught alive, but as coordinated as this attack was, maybe he shouldn’t have been so surprised. Though, that still didn’t take away the frustration. “I think partially both. They were organized, and they did take us by surprise. I don’t have all of the details of what happened on the roads yet, but one of the agents he and Daisy had been after slipped away with a vanishing act.
“My guess is that they’re going to strike somewhere else now after destroying the roads. They’ve attacked our facilities before, but not the roads. That was deliberate and purposeful. We just need to find out where. And when, but mostly where in order to make sure we have extra security detail posted.”
Rose shook her head blinking a couple of times. “They must have been planning this for a while,” that was the only way they could pull something off this smooth and this effective. It was, and she’d never say it, a good strike against them.
“Trying to lock us in like this,” she agreed. “The question is where are they going to think is the most vulnerable, or strategically devastating to us.” Rose thought for a moment, she could think of a few settings that she could see them striking but they were fanatical which sometimes made them a different breed to try and predict.
Matt nodded. “There are a handful of places that would work, but it just depends on what their main objective is in this.” Did they want to destroy them completely or simply wound them? Were they going to try taking some of their people again? Whatever was going to happen, would likely happen soon.
“Maybe we can find out more information from the files or when we’re able to speak with the others. I feel we only have a short window before they make their move.” He sighed and leaned forward in his seat a bit, running his hands over the top of his head and through his short hair. Saying that the lot of them were stressed was an understatement. “I’ll let you know if I find anything?”
“They’re not an easy group to predict,” which always seemed strange to her given their mission was to get rid of creativity altogether. Regardless, wondering about that right that moment wasn’t going to help them figure out what they were up to. It’d help if they had more patterns to work off of.
“Maybe,” she agreed watching him for just a moment. Frowning slightly she wasn’t going to say she was worried, but she was a little worried.
“Okay,” she pushed up from the chair she’d been sitting in and started to head out. Pausing she turned. “Matt?” Smiling softly she added. “Get some rest too.” Sure, it might not be the best time to rest, but sometimes rest meant the difference between finding something and not.
He nodded to her as she stood to leave, and when she called out his name, he looked up. Matt wasn’t surprised she was instructing him to get some rest, but he wasn’t sure how much he’d be able to keep that promise.
“I’ll try,” He said, smiling a little. It was the best he could offer at this point. He wasn’t going to be chasing down any agents for a couple of days with the way his knee felt, but he was going to have a hard time putting down these mission files and witness reports until they figured out where COS would strike next.
Once she’d closed the door behind her, Matt sighed heavily and rubbed his hands over his face. He took a deep breath and started to get back to work.