Chapter Text
Kate Laswell
I wrapped my hands around the coffee, too hot to drink yet but hopefully the smell will provide a much needed wake up. A straight 17 hour flight to get to London from Oahu including the stopover in San Fran, and according to Price, this was so important that we needed to meet in person.
So here I was, sitting in Northwood Headquarters running on next to nothing, having been awake for over 30 hours. Usually when it was just Price and I, we opted to meet somewhere less official, but I was sitting in a room with Price and one other man who I knew of but had just met moments ago; Lieutenant General Gary Smith, Chief of Joint Operations here at the headquarters. As I had walked through this building to the small office space, nearly every person I had encountered had been a man. Nothing new for me, this was always the case no matter if I was working for the C.I.A or with other organizations. It didn’t matter to me, however, as most of the men I dealt with were decent. Most of them. Captain John Price I could trust with my life, as I had done before, and he is the only man I would drop anything for and haul ass to literally the other side of the world in a heartbeat.
Even if that means leaving halfway through the long awaited vacation I had promised my wife. I had barely spent any time with her these past few months. And boy, she was pissed. I would make it up to her another time, and hopefully make it back to enjoy the last few days of vacation. Maybe I could get in touch with the Inspector General and twist his arm for a few extra days. Maybe.
Price dumped a file on the table separating us. I unfurled my fingers from the warm mug and began flicking through the papers. I loosened my breath.
Price noticed what page I had stilled on. “They have new missiles. We don’t know where they’re imported from, or if they’re planning to wage war or sell them off”.
“Hypersonic Ballistic Missiles” Smith chimed in. “Missiles so fast that whoever they’re targeted to won’t have time to respond. A few countries have been developing them for years, it was only a matter of time before terrorist organizations got their hands on them”.
“These are the confirmed missiles” Price continued, “but we don’t know how many have been taken to other organizations too”.
I closed the file and slid it back towards them. “Do we know the exact location of these ones?”
Price nodded “within a 5 mile radius”.
“Who knows?”
“Your boss, and just us 3. It is a highly sensitive case and we need to keep it that way”.
I knew what he was going to ask before asking, like I had a choice anyway. So I offered a small smile as I said, “I'm in. Who do we have?”
Smith pushed 3 files across the table as I took a long sip of my coffee. “I believe you’re familiar with task force 141, we will recruit other members as we see fit”.
I put my mug down and nodded, not bothering to look at the files. I already knew they would have the names of Gaz, Soap and Ghost. “Excellent choice. Do we have a plan set?”.
Price huffed, his hands reaching up to hold the straps of his bullet proof vest that wasn’t there. He let them slide back down to his lap, realizing that he was dressed as a civilian. “You see, that's the thing. Now these things can be hacked, which could work for or against us”.
“We can’t do this remotely, can we?” I asked.
Smith shook his head. “Even the most sophisticated and new technology is still controlled by computer chips. If it has a chip inside, it can be hacked”.
I ran my fingers along the edges of the files. They would have no trouble getting in and potentially placing the chip inside the missiles, and I knew Soap was a demolitions expert, but I didn’t think he processed the skill to hack into a missile. “So who’s our guy?”
They knew what I meant, and it was Price that responded by sliding yet another folder across the desk. “Our girl, Laswell”.
I knew that surprise lit up on my face, and I immediately felt guilty for assuming it was going to be a man, but that emotion was replaced by delight. Good, it’s good that more women are going into this field.
“Her name is Y/N, works in cybersecurity for primarily special forces and other government agencies when needed. Specializes in hacking and has taken a particular interest in hacking weaponry. This is a skill that a very small number of people possess worldwide, making her a top asset”.
“Large target on her back if organizations find out about this. About her” I replied. Price nodded, “yes. A skill rare enough it could get her kidnapped and sold off to the highest bidder for a hefty price”.
“Do we have any other candidates? What made you pick her? I asked”. I looked down at the small picture attached to her folder, smiling up at me. She looked to be in her late 20s.
Smith shook his head. “Not with her expertise. They don’t openly teach this skill for a reason, and finding someone else or trying to get them the appropriate training would take too long”.
Price added “she has worked for Special Forces for 5 years, and had some basic army training as part of her induction. No field training, but she has spent time at some base camps in the Middle East providing cybersecurity”.
“Ok” I replied, “ sounds like our girl. Does she know?”
Smith stood, “no, but she’s downstairs, spends most of her time working here. I’ll go get her now”.
“And if she says no?” I asked. Like a normal civilian would. Any normal person would turn and walk away from this, preserving their life. If this went wrong, and they could find out what she could do, then the consequences could be dire for her.
Smith didn’t even bother to stop as he looked over his shoulder and said, “you know how these things go, Laswell. She doesn’t have an option”.
Price waited for the door to close before he spoke again, staring at her file. “Times are changing Laswell. There are people like her out there that can do more damage to the world before a trained soldier like us can lift a finger”.
I took another sip of my coffee, and looked at Price, then back down to her picture. “When do we start?”
Price grinned “now”.
Oh, my wife was going to kill me for this. I had faced all sorts of enemies spanning my entire career and none scared me more than my wife.
I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment, imagining the phone call to her.
“Fine. But you can call my wife and tell her I'm not coming back to Hawaii”.
Y/N
I sat in this small, hidden office trying to process what my boss and these two people had just said to me. Well, technically my boss, but really he was my bosses’ bosses’ boss. And when he strolled into my tiny corner office five minutes ago where I often go days without a visit, and asked me to attend a meeting, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was the first time he had ever interacted with me. I started panicking when instead of leading me to his large upscale office, he took me down various hallways to this place. I relaxed a little seeing the other two people seated and waiting for me, not that I felt unsafe with the Chief of Joint Operations.
The other man, Captain John Price he had introduced himself as, leaned forward in his chair and braced his muscular arms on the table separating us. It wasn’t a far reach to guess he was a trained soldier, from the calloused hand that shook mine and his demeanor. “We will be descending on the area in roughly 40 hours. You will assist Laswell on comms and if the mission is successful, disable the missile”.
Kate Laswell leaned forward, having moved when I entered the room so I could sit facing them all, now sitting close enough to the captain that I could guess they knew each other well. “I will be flying out to a base camp with Price to be closer, and to brief the team. You will stay here for safety measures, should things go awry with the team or the base camp, you might still have a chance at completing the mission”.
I nodded, taking it all in. The mission, what would happen if we, if I, failed, and the team.
Task Force 141 was legendary enough that I'd heard whispers at work of what they had done in the past. Mostly rumors, their missions shrouded in secrecy. I wasn’t high up enough here to have anything to do with them, and I didn't dare try to look up anything confidential about their missions, though I did have access to the database working in cybersecurity.
I glanced over at the files placed in front of Laswell. On her left sat my file, god I hated that picture, and on the right a small pile of others, the one on top of what I assumed was a member of the 141 called Simon Riley, his file picture blank. A new recruit? People here talked about the members so I was familiar with some of them, and although they worked for Special Forces, they were not above office gossip. In fact, they loved to speculate like they had nothing better to do here, yet I had never heard of Simon Riley.
“It won’t take me long to get everything ready,” I replied. “I can start on the chips now and make sure all my gear is updated”.
“Good,” said Smith as he pushed his chair back to stand, straightening his jacket. “I’ll get one of the rooms here booked for you to work out of. I would like to sit in on the mission with you, but I unfortunately have other plans to attend to during that time. Because the matter is so sensitive, I won’t have any of my subordinates to oversee you”.
“Can’t I just work out of my office?” I asked. Maybe it was unfortunate for him, but it was fortunate for me that he won’t be there. I couldn’t think of anything worse than the pressure of trying to complete this mission and hack into a missile with one of the highest ranked officials in Special Forces looming over me.
“Negative” he said with a shake of his head. “You’ll be in a room on the command floor for security reasons. No interruptions”.
I nodded “understood”.
He shook both Price and Laswell's hands, leaving me alone with them. There was an awkward moment of silence before Laswell smiled warmly. “How soon can you have everything ready for us?”
“Tomorrow morning by the latest”.
“And do you think you’ll be successful?” Price asked.
I didn’t usually think anything special of myself, but I did take pride in my work. There was a reason I was here over others, and there was a reason why I was regarded the best, and always called on first when there were any issues. I had to keep reminding myself that anytime I felt unconfident or anxious that I wasn’t enough and didn’t deserve to be here.
I gave him a small smirk, as I said, “It’s not about whether I'm successful, it’s about if your Task Force is successful planting the chip”.
They both grinned at my reply, as Price said “all right, we will see you tomorrow morning then”. We all stood at the same time, Price turning to Laswell offering one word. “Drink?”.
Laswell looked tired enough that if she shut her eyes for a moment she would pass out from exhaustion. But she nodded, “never too early for a beer, and i’m going to need one after calling Sophie”. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and exited the room before us, dialing. Price nodded to me once, “Y/N”, before following her.