Chapter Text
It had been three weeks since Martine's partner falsified information that Martine was leaking secrets to the enemy. The Hague took no chances on treason. Martine was ordered to be eliminated. It had been two weeks since Martine was on the run. She hated running, but for her survival it was necessary. Martine could keep a low profile and she had plenty of aliases and apartments to hide under. But the Hague wouldn't stop until she was dead. She had to flee the country. The only obstacle was money. She couldn't risk using her bank account, the Hague was tracking it and looking for any signs of activity. Time was starting to run out. One night, she spotted a group peering in the windows of her apartment. She knew who those people were very well and why they were there. Martine was starting to get desperate. She had to act fast.
One day, when Martine was in a dingy, rundown part of New York, she came across a strip club with a sign that said hiring strippers. She went in, more like dove in when she saw the people who were hunting her down. Martine was hired immediately. It had been one week since Martine became a stripper, using an old alias she made in order to buy liquor underage. Cash was flowing in fast. The customers were often wasted when Martine came on stage, so they were throwing all the money out of their wallets at her. She took the money and tucked it away. Martine started to pack when she was halfway to a ticket that would lead her to safety.
Martine began to notice who was a regular the longer she worked at the strip club. One person who caught her eye was a pretty brunette woman. There was a few women who did frequent the club, and she turned into one of them. She was also out of place, choosing to stand by the door and wave away any person trying to buy her a drink or take her into the VIP room. She also seemed to be talking to herself unless she had an earwig on and the pretty brunette seemed to only look at Martine, not that Martine was about to complain. The woman was usually only there for about thirty minutes and then she'd disappear.
The Hague was relentless in their pursuit of Martine. There were extra patrols by her chosen apartment so she found one closer to her work. It was less risky that way. The woman was at the club every night Martine was working. There was something about that woman and Martine wanted to find out. But she didn't want to risk it in case it was someone hired by the Hague to take her out.
Martine was getting closer to being able to buy a ticket and flee the damn country. Lately, work was slow and the customers weren't drunk enough to throw the contents of their wallets out. The woman continued to visit the club, still acting the same as before. Martine had little anxiety but it was starting to grow. The Hague seemed to be sending out more resources to find her. Time really was starting to run out but Martine was close to being able to purchase the ticket.
One night though, the woman stayed until Martine's shift was over at three in the morning. When Martine left, she knew she was being followed by the woman. She didn't stop to turn around though, she kept going. The closer she got to her apartment, the closer the woman got. Martine was one hundred percent sure she was about to be killed. Right before she was able to go into her apartment, Martine was grabbed from behind and felt a needle go into her neck before everything went black.