Chapter Text
Prologue: Ghorbrani's Shadow
July 16th, 2022
The aircon was the loudest thing in the darkened office room. At the height of summer, it was far too hot for comfort outside; the blinds had been drawn over the large pane windows to block out the glaringly oppressive sun, but it was a fruitless effort as the stifling heat seemed inescapable, even with millions of taxpayer dollars spent on blasting cold air into the building. Tapping away at her keyboard, a single agent sat with her back to the glass, large hazel eyes flitting rapidly, over the laptop screen; she'd been there almost unmoving for hours, deep in focus as she compared intelligence reports and compiled the information for her superiors. Occasionally, she would barely mutter to herself as she checked and double checked her work, furrowing her thick, dark eyebrows while anxiously fiddling with the metal clasp of her clearance card dangling from the lanyard around her neck. The light of the laptop would occasionally illuminate her name as she flipped the card over and over in between her fingers; Nina Raynes, Special Activities Division. There was a sudden knock on the door that pulled Nina from her focus, she looked to the door and then to her desk, realising that chasing a paper trail of illegal money between different shell companies all morning had left her unappealing, pallidly weak tea undrunk and stone cold beside her, while an uneaten, sad, wilted salad sat unappealing in a Tupperware box beside it. Another knock.
“Come in.” She called out, clearing her dry throat and quickly reaching for and pouring the forgotten tea into the pot plant by her desk with a disappointed look on her face. She was the only one currently in the office that she shared with three other officers, so at least no one was going to complain that the overwatered peace lily was getting yet another terrible drink. The door opened and Nina was surprised to see Station Chief Kate Laswell standing there. While it wasn't uncommon to see her mentor day to day, Nina wasn't expecting to see her boss leaning quite so heavily against the doorframe like she'd not rested all night, or if her creased clothes were anything to go by, even gone home.
“Laswell? Is umm, everything ok?” Nina asked, standing up, her frown of concentration bending into one of concern. Laswell waved her off casually but looked like she needed to eat, have a nap and a week off.
“Fine, just tired, Raynes. Just letting you know that the Ghorbrani strike was a success. I’ll need you to start compiling evidence for record straight away- with the usual TS/SCI redactions.” Laswell gave out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying (and failing) to stifle a yawn.
“Sure, yeah, of course. No problem, Kate. It's not like this dirty Russian money is going anywhere fast.” Nina tried to joke, falling a little flat against the exhausted station chief. Nina offered Kate a good-hearted smirk and half of an exhaling laugh to try and lighten the mood. Laswell made no acknowledgement of the joke, instead, running a hand through her dark blonde hair, her mind visibly trying to manage several leads at once.
“I’ll need you to get in touch with the 141, make sure things are good on their end, and liaise with Shadow Company about securing their mission recordings for archive please. We don’t need any mistakes managing what comes after Ghorbrani’s death. This is Iran we're talking about, so this needs to be watertight.” Laswell listed off the most pressing concerns for Nina, leaning a little heavier on the doorframe as she lifted the weight of those duties from her shoulders and onto Nina’s.
“Yes Ma’am. Of course, I’ll get it done as a priority. Oh, umm, Ma’am? I hate to ask but… As it’s Graves' operation, do we need to send a team to sweep the local area for evidence to cover our end?” Even after seven years of working alongside the station chief, Nina felt comfortable enough in Laswell's company to let herself pull a distasteful expression at the mention of Commander Phillip Graves, making no attempt to mask her opinion of him. While she and he had never met in person, all the reports and surveillance of his Shadow Company she'd seen had given her plenty of reasons to be wary.
“No need, we’re good on that end- or more accurately, there’s nothing to sweep over except pebbles and ash- get this done as soon as possible please?" Laswell exhaled with a kind, but tired smile and had almost escaped out of the door as Nina called after them.
“Yes ma’am… Wait, Kate?” Nina called, all pretence of formality momentarily thrown out of the window.
“Yeah?”
“I think you should go home and get some rest, Kate. I’ve more than got things covered here, so you should, you know, go try that sleep thing. Preferably before your wife hunts you down. Again.” Nina reminded with a knowing smirk. After staying at their home for more than one thanksgiving, there weren’t many people in this world that Nina feared and respected more than a Mrs Sarah Laswell.
Kate gave Nina a warm, familial smile and chuckled, shaking her head before leaving. As the office door shut with a heavy clunk, Nina sat back in her office chair and gave a deep weary sigh, rubbing her eyes before suddenly stopping and sighed, remembering that she was wearing eyeliner and smoky eyeshadow, now very smudged.
"Fuck... Ok." She sighed wearily to herself, and lazily rotated the chair with her foot, reaching over to pull the blind open. Nina squinted and swore under her breath as the sudden blinding, wrathful sun tried to burn her retinas. As her eyes adjusted to the daylight, she spotted the Washington Monument in the distance, and gaggles of school children and tourists being herded in barely contained groups over the green as they were escorted from one marble fronted building to another, their edifices bleaching in the midday sun. The usual small groups of disparate protesters that were there all year-round come rain or shine were taking shelter in whatever shade they could find, fanning themselves with their brightly coloured placards.
Her attention was soon drawn by her phone buzzing on her desk, pulling her away from her view. She dropped the blind back down with a loud, unpleasant rattling noise and stared at the phone as if it were going to get up and walk away. The word 'Mum' surrounded on either side with flower emojis flashed on the screen, illuminating the passively selected botanical lock screen in a very unthreatening 'neat' and 'homey' array of pinks, yellows, and greens. She groaned and without even opening the message, she could hear her mother’s voice in her head even now.
“So and so and what’s their name got married! Their parents were asking when your wedding will be!”
“Here’s another ten almost identical photos of yet another new baby in the family!”
“Just pictures from our latest trip to Barcelona, love! Just had to take Bernie’s sports car out for the holiday too!”
She pulled a face at the sudden thought of (eugh)... Bernard but made herself laugh to balance it out when she thought about the slightly pretentious way her mother pronounced ‘Barcelona’ the last time they visited. She had to sigh and remind herself that she didn’t- and couldn’t begrudge her mother for moving on and having the life she wanted. Just maybe without the human embodiment of beige paint as a husband.
Bracing herself, she slid her finger over the screen and peeked at the message and rolled her eyes with an unsurprised smile to find yet more photos of her new nephew. She scoffed a laugh through her nose as she let herself smile at the picture, he was a cute baby- even if he looked utterly red faced and miserable crying in a puffy bumblebee costume that her mother had inevitably forced on him. Unfortunately, her starring role as the distant but doting aunt would have to wait. It always had to wait.
Sliding her phone across the desk, she took a slow, deep breath and cracked the joints in her fingers, opened her emails, and sent the standard requisition requests that at this point, she could write in her sleep. She was certain that any and all emails that she ever sent to Shadow Company’s CEO had been fobbed off to some junior officer still wet behind their ears, so she held more hope for a response from whoever Captain Price had sent from TF141. Once the requests had been sent, she closed her laptop and sneaked out of the office for something far more appealing than whatever abomination they passed for tea and a limp salad.
Operative Raynes swore that she had been gone no more than an hour at most but as she sat down at her desk with her lunch and had just taken the first bite of a gorgeous, toasted sandwich from her favourite deli (sourdough stuffed with bacon, brie, rocket and red onion jam- her usual, of course.) She saw that there had been a new email that caught her eye, one that had been rerouted from 141’s main contact address. It appeared to have been sent by a Lieutenant Simon Riley, the sole 141 operative on the Ghorbrani strike.
“That was… Quick.” She muttered to herself incredulously as she mulled over the taste of her food. Wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin, along with a smear of her own lipstick, she sat up and looked up at the clock on the wall then back to the screen with a strange mix of bemusement and being unexpectedly surprised in the best way.
One completed report. Detailed and in full with attached body worn camera footage, audio logs and even a written tactical analysis evaluating the performance of those on the ground. It was… Exceptional. She was deeply impressed- enough to make her put her lunch aside. It was to the point with no unnecessary descriptions, justification, or filler. She had to admit, she was a fan. Nina paused for a moment and did the maths, and it had to have been the early hours of the morning wherever this Lieutenant Riley was in Al Mazrah.
“Well, someone clearly doesn’t believe in sleep.” She mused to herself, reaching to take a sip of her iced coffee (she’d been betrayed by tea enough for one day). As she set to downloading all the video and audio logs for analysis and archiving, she sent a reply to Lt. Riley for his prompt and detailed response. Within half an hour he replied with a single word.
“Acknowledged.”
She wasn't sure what else she could have expected, though she was now hoping that she hadn't woken the lieutenant with her message. She shook her head and decided to put the thought and the lieutenant out of her mind and got back to work collating intelligence reports from agents in the field, all in preparation of Laswell’s briefing tomorrow morning. Ghorbrani might be dead, but the world had no shortage of conflicts bubbling beneath the surface. Nina also checked to see if Alex had gotten back to her about opening more lines of communication in ULF ranks. Even though he wasn’t CIA anymore, Nina had to admit, she missed the long chats with Echo 3-1, no matter if one or both were on deployment. They were both Laswell’s creatures, even if they came from different beginnings, they blurred the lines between soldiers, diplomats, and spies. Winning hearts, minds, and webs of informants.
As she finished her drink, swirling the remnants in the plastic cup, she knew she wasn’t going to see Shadow Company’s data today. They’d make her wait- they always made her wait. The day dragged on and on into the evening, and slowly, but surely Nina began to notice a subtle pattern in the data snatched from several shell companies across Europe. There was something catching her eye, even if it hadn’t revealed itself fully to her yet.
-Several months later-
October 26th, 2022
Nina hurried as fast as her heels and pencil skirt allowed on the dense, grey carpet tiles. Her rapid, long strides muffled somewhat as she caught up with Laswell, weaving around interns, agents, and office desks- though she did accidentally shoulder check at least one IT worker, barely having time to shout an apology over her shoulder as she rushed away. It was times like this that she missed the idea of field work and being able to be comfortable while she worked.
“Ms Laswell? Ms Laswell? Kate!” She called after her boss, trying desperately with strained politeness to be heard over the ever-present din of phones ringing, printers whirring, people talking and hundreds of keyboard keys hammering over and over again in a staccato undercurrent by dozens of workers typing away.
As she reached her boss, Nina tried to hide how out of breath and unbalanced she was, subtly trying to stamp her foot back into her high heel as she sidled up beside Station Chief Laswell, offering out her hand urgently towards Laswell's data tablet to take it. Kate reached out to touch Nina's arm and step them both out of the way of a group of agents thundering down the hall, all the while giving her mentee a bemused raise of the eyebrow.
"Raynes?" Kate gave her a subtle look that could have only meant 'calm down first'. Agent Raynes nodded and took a breath before starting.
“Ma’am, I have the most recent location co-ordinates for Zyani, I just need to add them to your report for General Shepherd.” Laswell immediately and wordlessly handed the heavy tablet over towards Nina who took it into her arms, almost like an infant, cradling its weight as she inserted a small data drive that dangled on Nina’s lanyard into the USB port. The station chief could see Miss Raynes biting at the inside of her bottom lip as she worked, checking and double checking every last detail. Laswell crossed her arms over her chest, flicking a piece of lint from the sleeve of her sky-blue shirt as she waited, semi-patiently and studied the time on her watch. Nina could anxiously feel her boss’s urgency and quietly muttered ‘sorry’ over and over as she finalised the update.
“Why the urgency? Has he moved since Friday?” Laswell asked as a distraction from the awkwardness.
“Still confirmed to be in Al Mazrah, Ma’am, but they moved compound. They were concerned about a rumour of a planned airstrike that was leaked from PMCs in the area- but his new location was verified just now with satellite imagery and surveillance teams on the ground, if that changes again, we’ll know about it. The new position is, however far more heavily defended than the last.” Nina took one final scan of her update and handed the tablet back to her superior with an almost shy smile before realising she was still attached to the tablet, pulling the data drive free.
“You’re confident about this?” Kate asked, looking over the updates with narrowed eyes and flicking a lock of her mousy blonde fringe out of her eyes. Hell, Nina thought, that was the million-dollar question. Nina was never 100% confident about anything, and she certainly never wanted to put all her faith in any information she handed Laswell; her mentor had only too willingly regaled her about the litany of tactical and diplomatic failures that she had witnessed in her tenure at the CIA- mistakes that she had emphasised should never be repeated.
“Yes Ma’am, sorry it’s late- nothing like the eleventh hour for new information.” Nina stated flatly, breathing in through her nose as Laswell continued walking down the corridor with Nina following behind. Looking around, Nina was by now well accustomed to corridor after corridor of copy and pasted white-washed walls dotted with soulless corporate art, and gurgling water coolers that rushed by them as they both walked fast, almost marching towards General Shepherd’s office. In the seven years that she’d worked for the CIA she learned to read the changing décor like the changing of the seasons- and right now, she could see the homemade Halloween decorations pinned on a door- clearly made by someone's young children (or made by a very unskilled adult.)
“Do you have full drone surveillance of the compound? Shepherd will want to know.” Laswell asked, glancing back, not slowing her pace.
“Within the hour ma’am.” Nina felt more comfortable now the update was away, and she was back in her element. It also secretly gave her a slightly warm glow in her chest to be trusted like this by Laswell, and to have her professional opinions mean something.
“Good work, Raynes- stick around, if this goes the way I think it will, I’ll need to talk to you after I brief the general.” Nina stopped in her tracks as Laswell passed through the internal security checkpoint outside General Shepherd’s office. Nina nodded in acknowledgement then gave a polite nod in greeting to the security guards.
“Yes Ma’am. Thank you, Ma’am.”
Heading back to her office, she caught her reflection in an internal window and stopped briefly to tuck her outgrown fringe back behind her ear, sighing in defeat as the heavy curl pinged back and brushed against her thick, sullen brow. Her hair was tied back into a low bun, gathered loosely at the nape, though wispy curled strands were escaping, framing around her heart shaped face. She straightened up her posture and adjusted her tucked in white blouse, and the black knee length pencil skirt that clung to her hips. She tutted and examined disapprovingly at how it had creased and gathered around her stomach, while the right-hand cuff of her blouse had somehow become dingy and stained with the tell-tale pencil and ink of her notebooks.
“Oh, Arse…Back to work, Raynes” she sighed quietly to herself and went back inside to her desk, flopping herself down ungracefully into her chair and kicked off her heels under the desk, logging into her laptop and heavily tapping a few keys on her keyboard to bring up her current task. She stared intently at the status report she was preparing for Laswell; a log of all anti-terror operations Laswell's department was currently engaged in with teams all over the world; London, Amsterdam, all over the Middle East and more. Her own investigations were into Russian money being funnelled through shell companies going in and out of Al-Qatala and ULF territories, which was more than a little worrying.
It had to be PMCs in the region. At least that was the obvious answer. Not that she ever had to worry about the possibility of Farah's people taking Russian money. As if thinking about the Urzikstan Liberation Force summoned them, something new crossed Nina's desk. Farah's scouts on the Adal border recently found the wreckage of military vehicles and scraps of barely survived footage and broken audio. God, forensics would have to clean this footage up before she could even make heads or tails of this. But immediately, the burned-out personnel carriers looked military- not the makeshift and jury-rigged flat bed trucks and cars often used by Al-Qatala or the local groups. Whoever met their end on that road, had serious money and hardware behind them.
It was then that Kate Laswell knocked on her door and changed Nina's life forever.