DERAILING

< Chicanco City

UTC-4 0127 AM

Backyard of the Crowntale Neighborhood >

The birds were still silent. The neighborhood still, not even the faint breeze. In the room, the couple was fast asleep.

Beep. Beep.

The sudden alarm penetrated the peace, high pitch and loud volume. The wife started, the husband instinctively snapped the phone from the counter and sat up in one swift movement.

"Christian Sanders, Agent 204522434."

"We have a breach, type C. Target Red Hawk."

"…WHY HAVEN'T YOU CALLED SPENCER?!"

"Honey, not so loud," the woman next to him pleaded. He rose up and within seconds slammed the door to the bathroom shut behind him.

"What happened?" Only with effort, containing the volume of his voice. His eyebrows narrowed so much so that they had become on ferocious line across his face.

"Information was leaked online; we managed to take action within our jurisdiction, however, one server is outside our jurisdiction, and we need clearance from Mr. Spencer; he's not picking up. How would you like us to proceed?"

"How long since the leak?"

"A few minutes, Sir."

"How many?"

"Four and a half, Sir."

Before he could stop himself, his fist smashed the mirror opposing him to pieces. Almost five minutes! This was a disaster. Bots were crawling regularly, and it was only a matter of time for them to reach through to this.

"Which server and how long until we can take it down?"

"Located in Japan; it would take no more than a minute, but we would breach international affairs and regulations."

"Call him again until he picks up!"

Where was Spencer?! There was no one but him to blame for this incident and for the first time in a long while, Chris felt more than utter disappointment in his superior; at this moment he hated him.

< Althaire Starlight Hotel

UTC+2 0732 PM

Side Room in Foyer>

Spencer welcomed One Shot's entry in the empty conference room with a brief, "Break off your ties to Angelica immediately."

One Shot approached him one step at a time until he was just before him. "Why?"

"Just trust me on this, Alexander. I am saying this for your sake. You've known me for a long time." Spencer placed a hand on One Shot's shoulder, staring him into the eyes, unwaveringly.

One Shot faced him straight on. With a mask of indifference. "I've known you as a rational and upright character, Spencer. However, without any reason, I cannot follow your request."

Spencer's grip tightened. "I…have known both you and Angelica. She is like a fox; you cannot trust her. Ever. She will use you and when she's done with you, she will be gone forever. You should get away from her. I'm saying this for your own good." Now he put the other hand on One Shot's remaining shoulder, caging him more and more.

"Thank you for your warning, Spencer. But," he slipped out of his hold, "I have to get back now."

"What are you going to do?" Spencer grabbed his arm.

"Make my own choice." One Shot ripped himself free.

"Alexander!," Spencer stepped between One Shot and the door, his expression turning desperate, "Please. I'm sorry I can't give you a good reason, but you just need to trust me on this."

"…Spencer," One Shot sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't make myself clear. It doesn't matter what the reason is or how good it is. I'm not thinking rationally right now. You could give the best argument in the world why I should stay away from her, but my mind is already set. There is only one place I want to be right now: by her side. So please, Spencer, stop wasting my time."

Spencer was left speechless. He had never heard One Shot speak so disrespectfully to him. What had gone wrong?! But One Shot couldn't be bothered anymore. He pushed past Spencer's statue out the door and back to the hall.

What a mess, yet, he couldn't get the smile off his face in anticipation of seeing her soon again. Time was precious. His pace fastened and there was a somewhat youthful skip to every step. Until – he heard the whimper. The source was discovered immediately. A young girl standing by the restroom with a phone in her hand. No, rather than standing, she was shaking. Her pupils widened. Tears dripping down her cheeks. When he met her eyes, it felt like a punch to the stomach. He had seen this look before – but only in the battlefield: pure terror. It should never have to trouble a child. Slowly, he crouched down in front of the girl, holding out one hand.

"Would you like me to take this for you?" His voice was soft and slow, careful not to scare the little girl any further. She flinched, but then nodded. Wordlessly, she handed over the phone. One Shot rose up again and took a few steps out of hearing range of the girl.

"Who is this and what the hell are you doing, scaring a little girl?"

The other side of the phone call remained silent for a bit, until the voice of a man spoke up. "Who I am? Where I am from, it is custom to reveal one's own identity before asking for the name of the opponent."

"I don't know and don't care where you are from, but that's not how it works here. Not when the opponent is an asshole."

"It is news to me that we would know one another so well as to judge each other's character?"

"True, we've never met. I make it a habit not to hang out with low lives. Now, who the hell are you and what do you want with the little girl?"

"Ha…," the sigh on the other end was barely audible. "The girl was merely supposed to hand over the phone to the right person. And that's not you. Now, if you'd be so kind as to pass on the phone to the woman in the video, I'd be very much inclined."

"…" One Shot paused to switch screens to the web browser. Indeed, a video streaming portal was opened with a recently uploaded video with the title "Revenge of the maid of honor: Angelica turns wedding crowd to stone, must-watch crowd reactions! So funny!". "What do you want from Angelica?"

"Angelica? Ah…yes," the chuckle on the other side ticked One Shot off. It was deep and dirty. Clearly a low life. "The name doesn't suit her." Oh, this dude really managed to piss off One Shot more than anyone else had done so in a long while.

"Who. Are. You. To. Judge?"

"An old acquaintance of Angelica's. Now if you'd please just let me talk with her for a moment – "

"No."

"…no? And who are you to tell me no?"

"I'm Angy's lover, jackass! Now piss off!" One Shot hang up and then turned around to the shell shocked little girl behind him. "…err…please forgot I said anything. But more importantly," he kneeled down in front of the girl again, "did you upload this video?"

She nodded.

"Do you mind if I take this video down? This man that just called is bad news, but not to worry, I can make set things straight."

"He…he said he will kill me and everyone around me if I didn't…didn't hand over the phone to…to the lady…"

"…do you know Harry Potter?"

She nodded.

"There's this cloak of invisibility, right?"

She nodded.

"I can create one as well, and with this the man will never be able to reach you or any of your loved ones again. Do you want me to cast this magic for you?"

She nodded.

"Then close your eyes and count to ten."

"One…two...three...four..."

One Shot swiped the touch face of his watch into hacker mode. Within five seconds, he had removed all traces of the girl's social media presence and the uploaded video from all servers worldwide. Whoever the crazy stalker was, he wouldn't find the young girl online again. The program was bulletproof.

"…ten." The young girl opened her eyes and One Shot smiled.

"Well done. You're very brave, I can tell. Here you go, your phone and your invisibility cloak."

"Where is it?"

One Shot tapped on her forehead, very lightly. "Right here. Invisible but ever so strong. Don't worry, you are safe."

The young girl nodded. "Thank you, kind sir."