Chapter #2

Freya headed to the main office, feeling the familiar sense of nervousness as the door shut behind her. Sid had already entered several minutes before her while she prepared her files, he stood near the coffee machine, waiting for her. As soon as their eyes met, he handed her a cup with a smile, but the tension in his eyes were unmistakable. She took her seat at the large table where all the division captains were gathered, their second-in-command standing nearby. 

The room was quiet, the air was thick with silent frustration, especially after the recent events between Divisions One and Three. Only Scheld Ecclestone, the agency's leader, looked calm, his sharp eyes sweeping over the captains. He was the man everyone in the building respected, and in this room, his word was law. 

"Ms. Freya," Scheld said, his voice breaking the silence, "I'm glad you could join us today. We were just discussing some minor distractions that occurred in the other divisions." 

Freya's eyes flickered, 'minor distractions' was his way of referring to the fight that had broken out between Division One and Division Three a few days ago. One of Division One's inferiors had lost his brother in action and blamed Division Three for their failure in security. It started as an argument but then quickly turned into a brawl, causing tension throughout the agency. 

Behind her, Freya could feel Sid's anger rising. He had always been protective of the inferiors, seeing them as more than just soldiers, but family, and hearing Scheld dismiss the incident as minor had clearly struck a nerve. She tapped her finger on the table lightly, a gesture for Sid to calm down. He relaxed, but the anger in his eyes still remained. 

"Ms. Freya," Scheld continued, leaning back in his chair, "would you like to share any updates on your current mission? Any progress?" 

Freya nodded, pulling a folder from her briefcase and handing it to Scheld "We've recovered one file, but the rest were taken during the escape. We are tracing them now as we speak." 

Scheld flipped through the file, then closed it with a small smirk. "As expected from the captain of Division Five. Keep up the good work." 

The praise felt empty, but Freya knew better than to argue. Scheld was not the type to give compliments easily. She could only nod. 

Scheld stood up, pulling down a projector from the ceiling. "Captains! I hope you take your missions to heart, because this one will be no easy task. The details are provided in the files in front of you. We are short on personnel, equipment, and time, but this very mission will decide the fate of America and China. Now go, complete your missions knowing that every sacrifice is another life saved.." 

With that, the meeting ended, and the captains started to file out, heading back to their divisions. 

Freya closed the door to the storage room behind her, leaving the muffled noise of the agency's main hallways on the other side. Sid sat down at the small table, his hands still clenching and unclenching, and she could tell his mind wasn't on the meeting they'd just left. She took the seat across from him, her eyes focused as she waited, knowing that if she spoke first, he'd only get more tense. 

Finally, Sid broke the silence, his voice low. "Have you thought about what happened at the border last week? How close it got?" His tone was unusually tight. "No one in that meeting even knows the half of it." 

Freya's jaw tightened, her gaze dropping. "I think about it more than I'd like to admit. We almost lost everything when that second team didn't show." Her hands slowly balled into fists as she recalled the last mission's failure. 

"They had five minutes to reach us. Five minutes," Sid said, his voice a low growl. "I was watching the clock like my life depended on it... No, it did. If the extraction team hadn't stopped us at the last second, we'd be sitting in a cell across the border right now. I don't think they realize what it means to face that kind of risk." 

Freya looked up; her expression dark. "That's why we don't report everything, Sid. The agency talks about sacrifice, but if they knew we had to run under that kind of fire, they would just say it was a risk worth taking." 

Sid nodded "They'd just read it as a 'mission complication,' and nothing more." He hesitated, then sighed, running a hand down his face. "But it wasn't just that. Losing communication halfway through… I was worried we'd all get separated" 

Freya held his gaze, her voice steady. "We made it out. And next time, we'll be ready. But Sid." she leaned forward, "We can't afford to depend on back-up like that ever again. Next time, we move only when we're certain of every detail. No more gambling or equipment failures. If the agency's willing to let things get that close, then we don't let them call the shots on our safety." 

Freya stood, Sid behind her as they made their way to the cafeteria, where Division Five had gathered, waiting for them. As they sat down, Freya gave a brief summary of the meeting to her men. Sid's eyes twitched as he recalled Scheld's description of the men they lead, 

Freya had noticed Sid's silence as she turned, he was known for his loyalty towards Scheld. But Freya knew more than anyone that this meeting hit him hard, their last conversation was only a fraction of his anger. 

"Sid, I understand how you feel, but arguing with Scheld won't change anything. We are at war. We cannot afford to let emotions get in the way of our duty. There will be a time to defend our soldiers but today is not that time. Trust me." 

Sid clenched his jaw, his fist tightening on the edge of the table, but after a moment, he sighed, sitting back in his chair. 

Freya reached into her coat pocket, pulling out a small box, and slid it across the table toward Sid. "I know how you feel for them," she said softly. 

Sid relaxed his hand and slowly stirred his soup; Freya smiled at Sid and put her hand on his shoulder "Look at me." reluctantly Sid met her eye. 

"I know that your feelings for them already show that you will be a wonderful leader. One day you will lead these soldiers, one day I may not be here to protect them or hold myself while others call them names. Please, do not beat yourself up because you could not argue back." Freya eyed the box, signaling him to open it. Sid blinked, confused, before he opened the box. His eyes widened and quickly turned to her; his expression softened. "Happy birthday, Sid Elrod Whitlock" 

Sid swallowed hard, blinking back tears. He quickly wiped his eyes, around him the soldiers of Division Five, noticed the moment, and started to cheer and clap. 

As the celebration continued, a figure approached them from the other side of the room. It was none other than Andres Johns, co-captain of Division Two, waved them over. "Freya, Sid, if it's not too much of a bother, Cathleen's waiting for you in Hall 8." 

Freya nodded, and she and Sid stood, making their way to the hall. When they arrived, Cathleen Ramirez, captain of Division Two, stood against the wall, smoking a cigarette. She glanced up when they approached and extinguished her cigarette. 

"Cathleen," Freya greeted her, a slight edge to her tone. "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you here?" 

Cathleen didn't respond immediately. She looked nervous, which was unusual for someone with her reputation. She was known as the youngest one of all the divisions yet that never made her work less efficient, 

"I need your help," she finally said, her voice trembling slightly. 

Freya frowned. "Did something happen?" 

Cathleen hesitated, twisting the ring on her finger, a habit Freya had noticed she does when she is nervous. "Tim… Timothy has been taken." 

Freya's stomach dropped. Timothy Banks was one of Cathleen's most trusted men, practically her brother, though not by blood. The idea that he had been captured sent a shiver down Freya's spine. 

"When did this happen?" Freya asked, trying to keep her voice steady. 

"During my mission, we recovered the files, but it was a heavy cost. We lost so many, we recovered the bodies, but we could not find Tim, I searched for him, atleast his remains if he were dead, but nothing." 

"Two days later, I received a notification of Tim's tracker, it started to work again but shut down in less than a minute. Something happened, Tim must have turned it on, but somebody shut it. We headed to the area the tracker was last online; it was a garage near the harbor. Only a broken chair behind the craters with Tim's wiped blood was found..." 

Freya bit her tongue to hold her anger, Cathleen's duty was to carry out her missions without any of her men being taken, if there was a situation when one would be kidnaped, her job was to silence them immediately. And now... he's missing. 

Timothy Banks was not Cathleen's biological brother, but her parents took him in at the age of 9. Knowing that broke Freya's heart but it wasn't enough to make her forgive Cathleen for her incompetence, 

"This has nothing to do with me. So why are you telling me this?" 

"I did not know who else to turn to," Cathleen pleaded, her eyes filled with desperation. "Your division specializes in tracking. Please, Freya. Help me find him. Find my brother!" 

Freya's heart ached for Cathleen, but she knew she could not let her feeling get in the way "If we find him, and he's compromised, if he's given them any information, I am sorry, but he will have to be silenced. You understand that, right?" 

Cathleen nodded, tears forming in her eyes. "I know. But please, just find him." 

Freya sighed, her resolve hardening. "I will help you, only if you will guarantee that when he is found, he did not reveal anything. If he did, you must kill him, if not you, then I -" 

Cathleen didn't need her to finish the sentence. She understood the stakes. "Thank you, Freya. I will do whatever it takes." 

Freya nodded, then glanced at Sid, who was already preparing. They had a mission, and it wasn't going to be easy. 

This very mission will decide the fate of the entire agency... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Freya had stayed overnight at the agency, her nerves were on edge, and her senses were fully alert. The weight of the situation was relentless, China's security was at stake, and all leads pointed back to one man. Every few hours, Cathleen came by, urging her to take a break, but Freya couldn't bring herself to leave. How could she rest with so much on the line? 

She bit her lip, studying the security footage from the last known location. Timothy had vanished without a trace, and frustration crept in. If the enemy was willing to play dirty, she could adapt to that. Her mind raced as she replayed the events, searching for an oversight. 

A realization hit her as she grabbed her coat. Sid followed closely 

"Do you have a lead?" he asked, sliding into the passenger seat as Freya took the wheels. 

"Timothy went missing near 31st Street Harbor, Cathleen told us Crate 132, but every camera around the main terminals showed nothing. They avoided surveillance on purpose… which means they took a lesser-known route. And if they had to avoid the main streets, there might be a hidden access in the restricted cargo area where Timothy was last seen." 

As they sped toward the harbor, Sid tapped on his tablet, pulling up the harbor's layout and logs. He frowned, double-checking an anomaly in the shipping records. 

"Madam Freya... there's no record of Crate 132," he said, his voice wary. 

She nodded, the pieces were finally falling into place. "Precisely. They've created a phantom cart, one that doesn't officially exist. It's a cover... an unlisted route to escape unnoticed." 

Freya tightened her grip on the wheel as they approached the harbor. "Let's find the cart's last known position and track it from there. If it's their exit route, it's about time we followed it." 

Freya parked the car just outside the restricted area of the harbor, keeping a low profile as they slipped out. The air was thick with the scent of saltwater and machinery oil, and a fog had already started to settle in. Freya nodded at Sid, who quickly began navigating on his tablet to identify any possible hidden routes. 

Sid pointed to a small maintenance gate off to the side, concealed by stacks of cargo crates. "The system shows it's locked, but there's been recent access, around the same time Timothy disappeared. Someone's been covering their tracks well. Only staff should even know this area exists." 

Freya examined the gate. "If they used this entrance, then they must have left traces nearby." She gestured for Sid to stay close as they moved through the small passage between the towering containers. 

As they went further, Sid tapped into the tablet's thermal imaging. "There's a faint heat signature nearby. It could be from exhaust… like from a vehicle that's been here recently. They must have loaded Tim into something small, something they could camouflage easily." 

They followed the trail through the maze of containers until they reached an alley between two large stacks, where Freya spotted something unusual, a small piece of fabric between two corner crates. It was barely noticeable, but its dark color and unusual texture made her pause. 

Freya examined the fabric "Kevlar," she said quietly. "They were prepared for resistance, but this is military-grade." Her suspicions deepened. Whoever was involved wasn't just a rogue operator, but they had resources, training, and the anticipation to stay a step ahead. 

Sid glanced around; as he knit his eyebrows together in worry. "If they're this well-equipped, they probably anticipated that someone would come after him." 

Freya gave a faint nod, piecing together a new plan. "We need to find out where this phantom cart would head next. There are routes out of this harbor that don't get checked as often, hidden paths for unofficial shipments. Can you access the route map for any outgoing ships?" 

Sid's fingers flew over the tablet. "Here. There's a small vessel leaving for a private dock just outside the city limits. Minimal security checks, limited surveillance." 

"Then that's where we're headed," Freya said 

"They may have the advantage, but they've underestimated just how far I'm willing to go." 

They returned to the car, setting course for the dock where the mystery ship would dock. Freya knew they only had a small lead, but she was ready to catch them before they could vanish into the night.