Chapter Text
Goose’s office was hot. Too hot for late autumn Virginia. It wasn’t nerves, no- it couldn’t be. Perhaps it was the leather jacket he had tugged around himself a bit too tightly. Or maybe it was the busted AC unit that hadn’t been fixed for weeks. Maverick didn’t get nervous, even with the threat of World War III hanging over his head. Even when it seemed like everybody knew about this threat but him up until thirty minutes ago. Maverick never cracked under pressure. He carried the world on his shoulders, and he did so effortlessly.
At least, that’s the impression he gave off.
The FBI loved keeping secrets from their own agents. Keeping them from gaining clearance to groundbreaking information until the last minute was a specialty of theirs that Maverick had learned to work with over the years. He didn’t understand why, though. He’d been working for the FBI for thirteen years, from the second he left college, and he was pretty sure he’d been handed more assignments than most of his older coworkers.
He was one of the best agents they had, which is why he’d been temporarily handed off to the CIA to assist with a foreign and American conflict. Though the switch had been made in only one day with no prior warning, despite its inconvenience, it was nothing he couldn’t work with. He was the only one the CIA trusted to fully handle this conflict with as much accuracy as any national issue.
Of course he could.
Pete Mitchell, more commonly known as Maverick, never lost. His cases never went cold, his missions always succeeded and his plans never failed. But usually, he’d been given some information a week or so before going in so that he could prepare. It was different this time. The situation was dire now. The director of the FBI had put off dealing with one man for so long to the point where he had become a global threat, and nobody else knew about it until it was made public by an anonymous online poster.
He contemplated why exactly he began working with the FBI in the first place as he stood in his best friend’s office at the CIA, discussing the conflict.
Even though he still wasn’t entirely sure what the conflict was.
“I’m sorry, he’s had this business for how long?”
“Ten years, as of last month,” Goose said, his face painted with concern over obvious distress. Nick Bradshaw was the less bold and brave of the two, but he still pulled his weight, even more so than many of his colleagues.
Maverick sighed. “How long have you known about the business?”
“Around six hours. A document by an anonymous source online was published this morning, claiming that an American underground arm’s dealer has been dealing weapons to three or four different European and Asian countries, seemingly to encourage the conflict between them. Its a mess- they’re threatening each other with war, and we’ve been dragged into it. Apparently these guys have made over two hundred billion dollars from doing this, pushing the war.
Maverick’s eyes widened, failing to process just how this guy managed to do this.
“Fuck. . . And how long have you known about this guy specifically?”
“Five years. He’s been known for doing underground shady business with other arms dealers, but I have to admit..” Goose was the one to exhale this time, “ he’s good. This business has flown under every radar we have, and I mean that literally. He’s untraceable. We never know where he is.”
“Jesus. What’s his name?”
“We don’t know. He’s gone by so many different aliases over the years; Chris Knight, Nick Rivers, Ray Levoi, more than I can count on one hand. But he’s most widely known as Ice, or the Iceman.”
“THE Iceman?” Maverick looked down at him, eyebrow quirked. His impression of this guy was nothing short of absolute disgust.
“Hey, I didn’t name him!” Goose put his hands up defensively and leaned back in his black office chair. Maverick was leaning slightly over his shoulder, glancing from his computer to the papers scattered along his mahogany desk. It was a disaster, but Goose liked it that way. Messy and all over the place. It was endearing, almost, how much his behaviors reflected his personality.
His office looks like your standard government assigned office, with a few photos of his wife and son in frames scattered here and there on his desk. He had degrees and certificates on the walls, along with some drawings given to him by his son, Bradley. His office was even on the corner of the building, which meant more windows, which meant more sunlight, when the sun decided to come out. He has curtains with sunflowers over his windows that his wife, no doubt, bought for him. He never hesitates to give any room he owns his own flair.
None of his fellow specialized skills officers could match his optimism about the world, but despite that, he made it work. He always made everything work, the bastard. He was fantastic at his job, conducting CIA operations and making sure everybody on the field stayed in line from home base. Maverick figures this is why they still get along so well; his best friend since middle school, still with him in the present. They didn’t find themselves in the most favorable positions, but they were still together, and Maverick was grateful he didn’t have to do this alone.
They worked tirelessly to get where they are, but still made sure to keep in touch even though Goose worked for another agency. They’d been put together for a reason; they were the best in their fields.
However, the best had to be put on the spot sometimes too.
“What else do we know about him?”
“Well, we know he personally operates out of DC,” Goose grabbed his mouse and made a few clicks on his computer to a different site with a map. “The business itself has multiple locations, though. A shipping site, a business center and an armory, all under the name of ‘Iceberg Armory’. That’s about all we know.”
“So no specific locations?”
“Not yet.”
“Hm.”
Maverick squinted at the screen, thinking for a few moments. His thoughts were racing, so fast to the point where it was difficult to get a coherent thought out. He’d never been put under this much pressure in his life.
“He has to be operating out of other cities then, right? This is a big business. The only other armory of the size we’ve predicted is the National Guard, and it would be impossible to work with them, especially given his criminal history. He’s been selling weapons to three militaries, right?”
“As far as we know, yes, but it’s very possible that there are more. We know he’s only targeted Asian and European countries so far.”
“So this place is massive. I’m thinking.. It might be underground,” Maverick suggested, staring at the map on the computer screen while Goose looked up at him, confused.
“Well, of course its underground Mav, it's not on our radar. . .”
“Not like that, Goose. I mean literally. I’m talking about somewhere inside the Earth, completely hidden from view. What about an underground warehouse or factory? It’ll probably be marked as vacant on our records, so maybe we should start there. Anywhere with sketchy surroundings is probably where we should start. Anywhere like that around DC?”
“Oh! That genius, let me check,” Goose perked up and leaned forward, clicking off of the site they were on and entering various passwords to get access to other ones. After several more moments of clicking, typing and going back and forth between tabs, Goose finally had something.
“I’ve got three locations that match that request. One in Walker Mill Maryland that got abandoned by some entertainment company three years ago, one in College Park Maryland that’s been untouched for over a decade, and one in Falls Church Virginia that's been vacant for five years.”
“Show me the College Park location.”
Two more clicks, and they were on a street view of the surrounding area. The first thing they saw was a dead end.
The road that led to the dead end was broken, overgrown by weeds and plants. It looked as abandoned as abandoned could get, but it didn’t look like it was up for sale either. There was one piece of the image that caught Maverick’s eye, though. In between a cluster of trees at the end of the road seemed to be a shed, of sorts. It was definitely traditional, but the outside was off putting. The wood exterior of the shed wasn’t as damaged as the trees surrounding it, and it sure as hell didn’t look like it had been abandoned for a decade.
“That’s our spot.”
“Huh?”
“Does that look abandoned to you? No windows, clean exterior, not up for sale?” he pointed at the screen, highlighting the tidiness of the pathway before it.
“Huh. I can’t find anything on who owns it, though. . . My guess is that it's being held by the state government, but I’m not too sure they know who’s operating out of it, or who could be.”
Maverick smiled down at him. It was a sure smile, one that screamed sudden confidence in a plan only Maverick had intel on. Goose wished he could read his mind, figure out what went on in that brain of his. “I’ve got a feeling, Goose, that this is the one.” His eyes sparkled with something akin to deviousness.
“I don’t like that look, Maverick. . .” Goose said wearily, unsure.
Maverick laughed a small, distant laugh.
“It's the only one I've got. Just trust me!”
With that, Maverick pulled away from the chair, only to be stopped by Goose’s hand grabbing his wrist. “Hey now, hold on, where are you going?” he stood up, grip still firm on his friend’s arm.
Maverick’s eyebrows furrowed, as if it was obvious. “College Park. Do we wanna find out if this is the right place or not?”
“Well, yeah, but you can't just go alone!”
“Can’t I?” Maverick challenged, and Goose gave him a look that asked, ‘Are you out of your mind?!’ in return.
And Maverick laughed again.
“Of course I’m not going alone, silly goose. I’m bringing Charlie with me. And it’s not like we’re going full-blown investigation, I just wanna check out the area, see what we’re going up against. I won’t go inside anything if I find the entrance, okay? I promise.” He rested his hand on Goose’s, the one that was on his wrist, and squeezed it in an attempt to comfort him.
Goose was hesitant. Very hesitant. The gravity of the situation had hardly hit him yet, but with Maverick leaving, it just felt all the more real.
“Keep your com on, okay? I want you to update me on what you see. And go armed!” Goose frowned, fatherly instincts kicking in. Maverick smiled reassuringly at him, patting his hand and urging him to let go.
“Will do, mother goose. We’ll keep you updated. Promise.”
This seemed to ease Goose’s concerns a little bit, resulting in him letting go of Maverick’s arm, but worried expression not fading.
“What’s my curfew?” Maverick asked as he walked to the door. Goose looked at his watch, noting the time.
“Five o’clock, no later.”
“Geez old man, not gonna give me any leeway?” Maverick smiled, teasing.
Goose rolled his eyes, smile slowly returning to his face. “You’ll have plenty of time. Now go, or you’ll be late.”
“Sure thing, pops. See you at five.” With one last flashy smile, Maverick left the room, making sure to leave the door cracked how Goose liked it, and began hurriedly walking down the hallway towards his temporary office a few halls away.
The CIA’s headquarters was located in McLean Virginia which, conveniently, was just a quick helicopter trip away from College Park. Located at the edge of Washington DC, they’d be able to get to most of their locations pretty quickly.
Hopefully.
They had to rely on hope for most of this operation. Maverick typically didn’t doubt himself or his capabilities as one of the FBI’s most distinguished agents, but there were circumstances where his doubt was warranted. He was almost 100% sure that this location was their jackpot, but there was still a little itch in the back of his mind shouting that, if he was wrong about this, then he’d only have wasted more time, more precious time that this “Iceman” character was using against them.
He was quick to his desk when he found his office, picking up his phone and looking up the contact he needed. He trusted Charlie to do this with him; she was a Top Gun graduate, one of the few women to claim that accomplishment. Lieutenant Blackwood flew for the Navy until five years prior when she took to flying helicopters for the FBI, thanks to Maverick’s suggestion. In all honesty, he got lonely. Sure, he had Wolfman and Hollywood, but they were less friends, more coworkers he got along with.
Charlie and Maverick had been friends since high school, and when he saw the opening, he didn’t hesitate to let her know.
He sat upright in his chair, phone pressed to his ear, ringing tone drilling into his mind as his nerves betrayed his mind's orders to calm down. It was no use, but a familiar voice on the other end soothed him, just so.
“Charlotte Blackwood speaking, how may I help you?”
“Charlie, hey! I have a quick favor to ask of you,” he asked, going over how to put his request in a way Charlie will say yes to.
“The fact that you have to warn me before asking never means anything good,” she sounded doubtful, which was fair, but he didn’t need doubt right now. He needed a guarantee that everything would go according to his weak, not at all well put together plan.
“Listen, I just need a quick lift to College Park, and maybe some help checking something out. You know about the armory by now, right?”
“Of course, it’s everywhere.. You don’t already have a location, do you?”
“I think I might. Look, I just wanna check this one out, nothing too major. Just scope out the area, and see if I’m right about my hunch.”
A little scoff came from the other side of the phone, and Maverick frowned.
“Charlie, if we find one location, we find them all. We need anything we can get, and surely the guy behind this knows we’re onto him already. The faster we act, the faster we can dodge him before he finds us.”
“And what happens if he’ll see you coming?”
“Then we’ll be prepared. No way he’ll expect us to find him this fast. I just need a quick trip, and Goose isn’t letting me go alone,” Maverick was practically pleading at that point. If he went alone, Goose would kill him, and he wouldn’t betray his best friend’s trust like that. Charlie was his only hope to find something, to take initiative and get ahead of this case before it got more out of hand than it already was.
The world was on the line. They needed to work fast, or they wouldn’t get to work at all.
Tearing down an empire from the inside out wouldn’t be an easy job.
The silence on the other end was shortly broken by a sigh. “Alright. When are we leaving?”
“As soon as you’re free,” he said, hoping his relief and enthusiasm wasn’t too evident.
“I’m free now. Where are we meeting?”
“Here as soon as you can. We’ve got a five o’clock curfew, so the faster the better, unless we wanna get a mouthful from Goose.”
“Jesus, five?”
“I know, but it's set, so just get here when you can, and let me know when you’re here,” he said, trying not to make her change her mind.
“Alright. I’ll be there around 3:30, be prepared,” was the last thing Maverick was told before she hung up, and Maverick was left with the suffocating silence of his office.
The last six hours alone had been a rush for Maverick. Nobody ever wants to wake up to the news that they’ll have to stop the next world war within a matter of days, but unfortunately, that was his reality. He’d been pulled in countless different directions that day, having to transition from one agency to another in an hour. And now, six hours later, he was about to inspect the exterior of what could be one of the largest, most dangerous armories in the world, with no team other than Charlie.
And he wasn’t even sure he was right.
He was always right, but this time? He was grasping at straws, anything that could be a lead. Any sliver of information could mean the world, and it was his job to find it. It was never easy working with the FBI. Being what action movies considered to be a ‘spy’, he was tossed around constantly and shoved into quite a few very uncomfortable and dangerous situations. He’s had his life threatened, his morality limitlessly tested, his ego bruised and his reputation boosted, and there was never a rest. Not in this world- in this country. With the discovery that the biggest arms dealer in the world had been working right under his nose for as long as he’d been an FBI agent came the feeling that he had failed, somehow. That he hadn’t been smart enough to find him sooner.
If some random anonymous poster online could find out about this guy, why couldn’t he?
He shook his head. He needed to clear his head, so he gathered up what he’d need- his phone, rifles, vests, coms and backpack, before heading outside to take a walk while he waited for Charlie’s arrival.
She was early. It took her twenty minutes to get there, and she didn’t seem nearly as nervous as Maverick. She wore a G-1 and aviators over a plain white T-shirt, typical Navy officer fashion. She looked cool. Too cool for the circumstances.
She’d always been cool, though.
When she told Maverick she was joining the Navy to be a pilot, he feared for her. She was like a sister to him, and he always worried about what she’d get herself into, but she always held herself well.
Some things never change.
“Get in!” She yelled at him from across the landing pad, voice hushed under the sound of the helicopter. He didn’t hesitate to rush over to her, almost leaping inside and dropping his bag on the floor. She eyed it through her glasses, glanced at him with a look Maverick couldn’t quite place, and took off as he settled in.
“You gonna actually explain the plan to me now?” She asked once they were in the air, eyes on the sky.
“The plan is to look around and scout the area for anything we could use. I’m pretty sure this armory is underground, so I wanna check out the external before going in,” he explained, pointedly avoiding obvious flaws in his plan.
“And you don’t think they’ll have people waiting for us?”
“Well. . .” he looked out at the land below them, nerves rising. “We can only hope not.”
“So you don’t have an actual plan other than ‘look around’, awesome,” Charlie said, words dripping in sarcasm. Maverick could see her shake her head from the corner of his eye.
“Hey, do you have any other ideas? It’s just us, it’ll take a lot more planning to get a full group in there, but we need to act now.”
“And what if you do find something? What then? We get a team to invade, and start a shootout inside of an armory, thats how you die. You think they’ll hesitate to destroy all that shit? They’re probably waiting for the day they get to see it all go up in flames. They want war, fire, and death. Why else would they be doing this?”
“Money,” Maverick added simply, choosing to ignore the rest of her argument for the time being.
“Still. Why this? Why work for an arms dealer if they don’t want to see the consequences of their actions? Everybody that works for this guy knows what they were getting into. . . what’s his name, again?”
“We have no clue. He goes by the Iceman.”
“The Iceman?”
“That’s what I said!”
“Okay, that’s not the point. They know what they’re doing and they have to know that somebody is coming. Are you ready to face that, Maverick?” She glanced over at him for a moment, and he looked back. Her expression was challenging, like she wanted to test his honesty. Test just how far he was willing to go to be right.
He could tell that she underestimated him.
“Always,” he said after a moment's pause, his tone displaying a confidence that he didn’t entirely feel, but a feeling of spite that he definitely did.
Charlie smiled, looking back out of the front window. “Good. I’m gonna give you twenty minutes to look around this place, cause I got word that I have somebody else to pick up at 4:30, and I can’t be late. Deal?”
“Deal.”
There was silence the rest of the short distance to their destination. It was comfortable silence, though; the kind that two best friends could share with each other with ease. They’d always been able to do this, even when their friendship was tested, they always fell back into the same routine.
They found a good landing spot in between some trees that was only a minutes walk away from the road Goose had found. Maverick turned his com on to let Goose know that they’d gotten there safe, and started walking to the coordinates.
They were in a forested area, trees shedding their green colors in favor of red and orange. The grass was tall, up to Maverick’s knees, and the leaves on the ground didn’t do much for them as far as stealth was concerned. The crunch from their boots would give them away to anybody that could be waiting for them, though he was confident there wouldn’t be any surprise attacks. They’d gotten this far, after all. They did carry their rifles with them, though. Just in case.
They approached the road, the end of which had been overgrown with ferns and grass. The season was different, but generally, it looked the same.
“So, this is our spot?” Charlie asked, looking to Maverick for elaboration.
“It’s supposed to be. Somewhere around here is an underground warehouse, and the entrance to it. There’s an exit somewhere around too, I think, but we didn’t find it online. I’m guessing there's some kind of loading dock that allows for transportation, but where exactly that is, I have no clue.”
“So we’re going in blind?” Charlie asked, attitude conveying her disgust.
Maverick sighed and looked over at her, mouth pulled into a thin line. “When you put it like that, it sounds bad.”
“Because it is bad, Maverick!” Charlie rubbed her temple. “This whole thing is bad. Just, find what you need to and lets go, okay?” She asked, her cool approach to the situation melting away with the heat of the pressure.
Before Maverick could respond, he heard a little voice in his ear.
“Talk to me, Maverick. You seeing anything?”
“Not yet, Goose. We just got to the road,” Maverick said, holding the button on the communication device in his ear.
“Alright. Keep me updated.”
“Sure thing.”
When he heard nothing more from Goose, he looked over at Charlie and motioned her forward.
“Come on, if theres going to be anything, its gonna be off the road,” Maverick said, and began walking off of the road with Charlie following close behind. It was a bit difficult to navigate the terrain given the grass, but they managed eventually.
It wasn’t long until they stumbled upon something unusual.
The tall grass fell short in the shape of a path that seemed to have been stomped out over time.
Just as Maverick stepped onto the makeshift path, he heard a gun cock behind him, but it certainly didn’t sound like one of his. He turned around to see Charlie turned as well, facing the woman with the gun.
She stood only a few yards away from them, wearing an icy blue suit and long brown hair up in a ponytail. She looked almost gentle, if not for the gun, and the fact that she looked just about ready to kill.
“Pete Mitchell and Charlotte Blackwood, right?” The woman asked, as if clarification for something she already knew to be true.
Charlie and Maverick both looked taken aback, and curious more than fearful.
Charlie spoke first. “Who the hell are you?” was the question, not confirming or denying the strangers question.
She smiled. “If you don’t already know, you don’t need to be told.”
Charlie scoffed, glancing at Maverick then back at the woman with a skeptical gaze. “You were expecting us.”
“Of course.”
“How?” Maverick asked.
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” was all the response she gave. They were all too familiar with that response.
“You work for the Iceman?” Maverick asked.
“You work for the FBI?” she asked, glancing at the FBI badge on his vest as if to emphasize the obvious answer.
“CIA, actually. Temporary switch.”
“Ah, must be a special case then.”
“Special is one way of putting it. Now put down your gun and we can talk about this.”
“I don’t think I can do that, agent.”
“You know who we are.”
“Of course I do. It’s respectful to know the names of people you’re sent to kill.”
“You won't be doing that-” Maverick spoke, tightening his grip on his gun even further before being cut off.
“You know what? Fine,” Charlie lowered her gun and shrugged, placing it on the ground. Maverick looked at her like she was crazy, and she looked at the other woman as if challenging her.
“Charlie, what the hell are you doing?” Maverick asked, defense tight in his hands. His heart pounded in his chest, guard through the roof. He felt like any move he made could set off a bomb.
“I’m a big girl, Maverick. I can fight with my fists.”
Her words sparked a fire in the other woman’s eyes. She lowered her weapon as well, seeming to look forward to the challenge. She eyed Maverick, seeming to expect him to do the same.
“You gonna do the same, Mr. Mitchell?” She asked, almost taunting, as if to tease how tense he was.
Charlie looked at him expectantly, and his jaw dropped. There was no way she was serious, expecting him to drop his weapon before an assassin sent by the man who was well on his way to taking over the world. She was trained in combat, no doubt, and she had a plan. He could see it in her eyes- she wouldn’t just drop her weapon that quickly.
But he didn’t get the chance to find out. Charlie spoke, softly, just inaudible to the woman, and said; “Run.”
He wouldn’t argue, and he sure as hell wasn’t gonna wait around for clarification.
Maverick took off, leaving Charlie behind with an ache in his chest. He scanned the area, looking for any signs of an entrance to the warehouse, and he didn’t find anything for about a minute or so. Despite that, though, he continued running.
He ran until he came to another road- one he didn’t think he saw on Goose’s map. It was blocked off, and there was no sign with a name. However, at the end of it, there was a building. It looked more like a large shed, but a building nonetheless. It was brown, obviously painted to blend in with its surroundings. It was a weak attempt, but it wasn’t on any maps, so clearly it did something.
He reached for his comm on his chest to let Goose know what had happened, but there was nothing there.
“Shit…” he mumbled.
It was gone. It must have fallen off while he was running. His thoughts raced, but he shook his head and briefly closed his eyes. There wasn’t a single second he could waste worrying about things that weren’t as dire as finding his location.
The building was a good place to start.
-
Charlie remained, and neither of the women moved. Her opponent made no move to run after Maverick, and instead, simply stood there with an amused look on her face.
“He’s gonna get himself killed in there.”
“Why does that matter to you?”
“I was asked to kill him. I bring him in dead, or I fail”
Charlie huffed out a laugh. “Trouble in paradise?”
“My only trouble is you, sweetheart. Now fortunately for you, I wasn’t sent to kill you, but I’m sure it’ll be okay if I bring you in as well.”
“Is that so?” Charlie asked, tilting her head and offering a mocking smile. She could tell her nonchalant attitude set something off in the other woman, and she felt good about that. As a result, with no warning, she caught a fist flying towards her face, and it felt damn near exhilarating. She spent most of her time in the air, so getting some action on the ground was almost freeing. Still, though, it offered a fun challenge.
She twisted the woman’s arm, turning her whole body in the process and kicking the back of one of her knees to get her on the ground.
Other than a few grunts and a bit of struggling, there was little fight coming from her opponent. This put Charlie on edge, and it seems that that was the goal, as the other woman twisted out of Charlie’s grip, swung her leg around and sent Charlie falling to the ground.
She was quick to stand and get the higher ground. She was smirking, and how dare she- Charlie wouldn’t just sit there and take that!
In her attempt to get up, though, the woman put her foot on the center of her chest and pushed her back to the ground.
“Ah-ah-ah, I don’t think so,” She teased, flaunting her new power with a smile.
Charlie shot that same smile back, though, before she reached up and twisted her leg. She pinched some of the skin on her shin, and that caught her off guard enough to get her on the ground too. Seizing the opportunity, Charlie swung her leg over the woman’s torso and sat on her waist, holding her arms down with her hands.
The ground she had wasn’t all that high, but she had the woman trapped, and she’d consider that a win for now.
“I could kill you. I should kill you. But I wont,” Charlie said, victorious smile on her lips and glee in her eyes.
The woman scoffed. “Why? You’re a coward.”
“No..” Charlie said, releasing one of the woman’s arms just to pin it under her knee. She reached into her own pocket and pulled out a knife. She held it tauntingly in the air. “I’m showing you mercy.”
The woman’s eyebrows furrowed, almost like she’d been betrayed.
“You had a weapon.”
“I feel that taser in your pocket, hun. You’re not fooling me.”
She laughed, then. “Fair enough. Still, though. You’re the FBI.. since when do you people show mercy?”
“Killing you wouldn’t be any fun, but watching you struggle is. . .” Charlie explained, using the tip of the pocket knife to tilt the woman’s chin up. “Plus. . . I also like to know the names of people I’d like to kill.”
The woman almost looked impressed. She had to admit; she’d been outsmarted. She’d never speak that to another person, though. Nobody needed to know about the blonde on top of her, or how she’d let the man she needed to kill get away, or how her heart was pounding about ten beats too fast.
After a moment of contemplation, the woman spoke again.
“Stingray.”
“Hm. Fitting,” Charlie commented, not bothering to elaborate beyond that. “Look, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have business to take care of and a friend to go after.”
She was almost smug, still reeling in her victory as she raised the knife once again, but only stabbing the ground next to Stingray’s head. Neither woman looked frightened. In fact, they looked almost content with the outcome of their altercation.
Charlie stood up, stepping over the woman and picking up both guns, as well as walking a few steps to pick up Maverick’s fallen comm. She shook her head, not surprised he’d lost it so soon.
She turned around to look at a now standing Stingray, looking at her expectantly.
“You sure you wanna go in there?”
“Well, all you’ve done is confirm my suspicion that we’re in the right place,” she shrugged, nowhere near a place of backing down.
“Fine. . .have fun,” was all Stingray said, flashing a smile as she did so. It was an intimidation tactic, and Charlie knew that all too well.
She shook her head and walked off, guns in hand, following Maverick’s footsteps through the forest and not looking back to see where the woman had gone.
When she was a far enough distance away, she held the comm up to her mouth.
“Goose, I’m gonna need you to send out another copter for me. Mine’s been rigged.”
She knew the games; she was no stranger to leaving her things unattended and reaping the consequences. Might as well come prepared.
-
“What did you get?”
“The guy we’re looking for personally operates out of a place on Constitution Avenue, but I didn’t get the exact location,” Maverick explained to Goose. It was later in the evening now, and Maverick was more or less a mess. He went into that warehouse and came out a changed man.
“Sorry- how do you know this?” Charlie asked, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow. They stood beside either of Goose’s shoulders as he typed away at his keyboard.
“I held a guy at gunpoint. Shot him in the arm, and that was enough to get him to talk. He said the bosses name is Tom Kazansky, but I don’t know how accurate that is given how many names this guy has had.”
“No, that adds up. . .” Goose said, opening a few tabs and clicking at anything that could find a specific location. “That was his first name. Makes sense that that’d be the real one.”
“Okay, but what do we do once we find out where this guy is?” Charlie asked, eyebrows furrowed in thought.
“Well, we can’t go in and start a gunfight. He said that they send him samples of what they’re working on to verify that it’s what he wants. We have no clue what kind of material is in there either. Safest bet would be for me to go in, knock him out, and bring him to you.”
“Mav. . .thats an awful idea,” Goose commented, cringing a bit. “We don’t know how many other people will be in there, how guarded it’ll be.”
“But it’s worth a shot, right? Send me in with a fake alias, see if we can get an appointment with someone close to him, or even better, he himself. Surely he isn’t that secluded, right?”
“I’m not sure. . .” Charlie said, looking to Goose’s screen and pointing at one of the buildings. “Hold on, look. . .Kazansky enterprises. That’s our guy.”
“Oh, great, okay. . . “ Goose exclaimed, fully aware of how not great the situation was. He zoomed in on the building and logged the address. “Alright. No doubt they’ll be expecting a visit, since you let the people that caught you live,” Goose glared at them, “so you’d better have a damn good disguise planned, Mav.”
“Don’t you worry, Goose,” Maverick smirked, eyes trained on the screen. “I’ve got something perfect.”