Agent Alpha and the Angel maker

Fireworks

*Astrid*

We are speeding through town at full speed, Zac behind the wheel and at least I feel like he has it under control ... mostly at least.

“Dammit”. Zac slams one hand into the steering wheel. “I should have stayed with her myself”.

“It’s not your fault ... it was the director's call”. I try to calm him down. Also it really isn’t his fault. “But you do realise you are driving in the wrong lane ... right ?”

He quickly pulls the wheel, sliding out of the path of an oncoming truck, shaking his head. “I gave her my word ... I promised her she was safe”.

I pick up my phone calling the office, that young officer ... Jensen picks up. “Jensen, listen, you have to put me through to the officer guarding Natascha at the safe-house”.

“Why ? She isn’t there ... Hansen went to pick her up, he Said needed her at the ATF office”. She says with mild surprise, making Zac slam his hand hard on the steering wheel, cursing in some very colourful gloses.

“He might not know that his cover is blown”. I tell Zac, then I halfway yell into the phone. “Track his car and call me back with the info”.

Jensen sounds worried. “You want me to put a red alert on him ?”

“Yes”. Zac calls out.

“No”. I answer. “Track him and call me”.

It takes three minutes, then we have the address and are on our way. Soon after we pull up in front of some warehouse in a desolate area. Hansen’s car is supposedly inside and we are pretty sure he isn’t alone.

“I just called it in ... swat is at least ten minutes away”. I look at Zac, who has his gun out, checking that it is loaded and the safety is off. “So ... we are most likely walking into a room full of trained killers, armed with guns that have an almost 100 % kill rate”.

Zac just looks at me, resolution in his eyes and nods.

“Alright ... just wanted to make sure that you were up to speed on this”. I pull out my own gun, breathing in deeply.

“Are you ready ?” Zac looks at me, opening his door.

I nod. “Yup, as ready as I'll ever get”.

We get out of the car and make our way to the building, being as silent as possible. We glance through a window, seeing three men, one of them Hansen, pulling Natascha with them. We have to act fast.

Zac turns, placing his hand on my arm. “I got an idea, why don't you stay out here and secure the perimeter ...? I’ll go inside ... I got this”.

I pull my arm away. “I got a better idea, I go inside and you stay out here and secure the perimeter”.

He looks at me, then he nods. “Okay ... I’ll see you inside”.

“See you inside”. I pull up my gun and Zac disappears around the building.

I look through the window again, seeing agent Hansen lift one of those automatic rifles and riddle his own car with bullet holes. He grins at the two other men. “We really need to make it look like I was ambushed before you kill her”.

Natascha is desperately trying to scream, probably for help, but her mouth is gagged with a scarf.

“It needs to look like I was caught in the crossfire”. Agent Hansen says, looking at one of the other men. “So I need you to shoot me in the shoulder”.

The man pulls a handgun without hesitation, pointing it at Hansen’s shoulder.

Hansen chuckles. “Are you sure you can hit from that distance ?”

“I test guns for a living ... there is no one better than me”. The man says confidently, taking aim.

Agent Hansen braces himself, waiting for the shot. I can’t barge in the front door, not like this, I would be a sitting duck. I hear the shot, and see Hansen take a step from the impact ... but something is wrong ... he stepped forward not back, like the shot came from behind him. Then the other man slump to the floor, dead, the bullet has gone through Hansen’s shoulder and right between his eyes.

Suddenly several more men are swarming into the room and Zac comes sprinting from the back. I kick in the door, now their attention is on my reckless partner. And before I can even think about it, I have taken out two men.

*Zac*

I kinda tackle Natascha down behind some big boxes, pulling the gag away from her mouth. “Are you okay ?”

She nods, tears running down her face and I try to free her hands. I can hear Astrid yell at the remaining men. “It is over, drop your guns”.

“Yeah ... we are not going to do that”. Hansen yells back, hidden somewhere. “We have more guns and bigger guns”.

“Well maybe ... but swat will be here any minute and you will be badly outnumbered”. Astrid yells back, sounding very confident, the situation considered.

“Really ?” Hansen sounds kind of amused. “You know what I think ? I think you two morons came here all alone”.

I glance out from behind the box, seeing Hansen step out from behind a truck, firing the automatic rifle at the car Astrid is hiding behind.

When agent Hansen pulls back to his hiding place I call out. “He is on to us Astrid, even though the moron thing might be a bit harsh ... but Uhm maybe we should just surrender”.

“Hell no ... we are going out shooting”. Astrid calls back.

“But to be honest darling, you are kind of a terrible shot”. I call.

She chuckles. “I might not be a sniper, but I can hit what is right in front of me”.

I turn, looking ... in front of her is a truck, the back is open and it is filled with illegal fireworks. “Yeah ... hit what is directly in front of you ... Uh and ...”

“Yeah ... what ?”

“Don’t worry about collateral damage this time”. I say grinning. This is going to be a blast ... literally.

Astrid jumps up, shooting the side of the truck, which of course leads to absolutely nothing. And she is already back in hiding.

“What the hell ? Did you miss ... the thing is humongous”. I can’t believe it didn’t work.

Astrid’s voice is surprised too. “I shot the truck ... I hit”.

“You were supposed to hit the gas tank”. I yell in frustration now.

“I don’t have an angle on the gas tank from here”. She yells back.

I groan. “Why didn’t you ...”.

“Arg ... I can’t wait for you two to shut up”. Agent Hansen jumps out from behind the truck yelling. Then he starts shooting wildly at the car Astrid is hiding behind. But just then the fireworks starts exploding, apparently her shot made sparks, starting a small fire in the packing material.

“We need to get out”. I pull Natascha to her feet and start running towards the door, halfway carrying her. Astrid follows close behind us, as fireworks are exploding left and right.

Luckily we manage to get outside before the building kind of explodes, the pressure from the blow throwing us to the ground. Fireworks lighting up the sky above us.

We all sit up and Astrid looks at the sky. “It’s actually kind of pretty”.

I can’t help laughing. “Oh definitely”.

Astrid’s phone rings and she picks it up. Then she laughs and looks at me. “The boss wants to know where we are and what we are doing ... and if we have anything to do with the fireworks”.