Contractual Obligations

Prologue

Ohio - 2023

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People like Val were like gnats, funny enough. They hung around, picked at sweet things that were left out too long. Opportunists.

She says she wants to talk. She always says she 'wants to talk'. Because that's what people like Val had the liberty of doing. It seemed nice, being in the business of talking and weaseling and coercing. The dirty work got left to people like her.

People like Yelena Belova.

People who liked staying out of the way.

People who lived in a cabin, in the woods, alone, for that exact reason.

The situation was comfortable, mutually beneficial. Yelena got her cottage, she got her loving pup and her 6 weeks of vacation time a year - a number she had to haggle for, of all things - and Val got her muscle. 'Something a little more inconspicuous than 'America's-Most-Hated-Man' in the red, white, and blue'.

Yelena Belova's place had come with the contract: 42 acres, lakeside cabin, secured internet access, and yes, six weeks of paid vacation time.

You'd think somewhere in that contract, there'd be something about necessary boundaries.

"Fanny! "

Shouting that never got old. "Okay, playtime's over, big girl. Time to go inside." Yelena called from the porch, shoulders slouching as she accepted the fact that she'd have to go looking for her. The patchy, golden mutt was an adoptee, 12 years old, but somehow she still found the spark of a puppy in her. It wasn't surprising if the girl had found a particularly mocking squirrel to follow, or a butterfly that looked a little too threatening.

Yelena descended the wooden porch steps, back door swinging ajar behind her, as she pushed stands of blond hair from her face. Her eyes scanned the yard, and for just a moment, there was a twinge of panic in her chest.

"Fann- "

"Let me guess, Shiba Inu mix?"

Yelena jumped.

Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was as annoying as her name was to memorize. Gnats always came when things were too sweet.

Val led Fanny by the lead, clad in her usual black coat. "No?" she asked, shaking her head, running a gloved hand over Fanny's fur. Fanny panted happily, the dog's tail wagging wildly, kicking up amber colored leaves in its wake. "He's gotta have some Shetland in him."

"This has got to be some sort of HR violation." Yelena groans.

For some reason, Val finds that amusing. "Come on," she says, and she releases the leash, sending Fanny running back into the house. "6 weeks leave, any more and it's really hard for me to get the higher-ups to approve any time off-"

"This is my house, Val. You'd think an organization so shrouded in secrecy would give a shit about some privacy, ey. But no." Yelena scoffs, shaking her head.

So, she is in a bad mood.

Somehow, Val has expected it, anticipated it. Because it came every year. Every July. Val had come to schedule for it, the mourning period that left Yelena out of commission for weeks at a time. And for a while, she tolerated it. Val wasn't heartless. Just efficient. They had to be efficient.

Val stepped closer to Yelena, resting her hands on the younger girl's shoulders.

"Please, do not touch me." Yelena mumbled.

"Look, I know this time of year is particularly hard for you, and the last thing you want to do is concern yourself with work. But it's been a couple weeks now, and I think it's time for-" Val argued, her voice lilting in that way that Yelena had called 'underselling bullshit'.

"A raise." Yelena said. "It's time for a raise."

" This again." Val sighed, dropping her hands.

Yelena was astonished at how innovative Val was at pissing her off. "Yeah." Yelena said. "This again. You want me off my leave, pay me."

"You're really driving this home, huh? Really got me by the proverbial balls here." Val chuckled, shaking her head, wandering as she spoke. Fanny watched defensively from the back door. "I'll cut you a deal. You do this for me, I'll give you more than a raise."

Yelena crossed her arms. Val raised her eyebrows at her.

"Get in the house." Yelena sighed.

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"Run me through one more time."

"Devin James, born D'ewe Juvone." Val says, pushing a neat file across Yelena's wood kitchen table. "Ex-Dora Milaje. Wakandan defector. Operating out of Madripoor under the moniker 'HayMaker'." Her kitchen is cramped, obviously meant for one, with a worn doggy bed in one corner and a coat rack in the next. Val had seen it hundreds of times. It seemed as if off-the-grid micro-cabins were what's 'in' for retiring and vacationing secret agents and super-assassins.

"'HayMaker'? Why 'HayMaker'?" Yelena asked, perched atop the kitchen counter, a fork in one hand and a Cup Noodle in the other.

Val waved a hand in her direction. "Jabari fighting style. Not the point."

"Yeah, I'm struggling to see 'the point', Val. Don't see what that has to do with anything." Yelena frowned, and she set down her noodles as she rubbed the stress from her face.

Val reaches into her purse, producing a lighter, and a cigarette balanced between her gloved fingers. "Can I smoke in here?" she asks, and Yelena wonders if she's stalling. Because before Yelena can even protest, Val is sparking the end of the cigarette nonetheless. Another innovative way of pissing her off.

Yelena sighed.

"Miss James here has reportedly been making some moves with synthesizing some enhancing agents, kind of like the problem we have with our friend John. So, we're going to need you to bring her in." Val said.

Yelena blinked at her. Val doesn't elaborate. For a moment, Yelena is sure she's kidding. But Val's face doesn't say kidding.

So can she blame her for Yelena snorting in her face?

"Val, come on. Do you know what I am? I'm an assassin." Yelena said, almost in disbelief. "Usually the killing part is the main part of being an assassin. If you don't kill the body before you take it, that's just kidnapping."

Val takes a long drag of her cigarette as Yelena essentially laughs in her face. "Look," she said, and Yelena raised a hand.

"No, 'look', you're always telling me 'look'. You sound crazy." Val stood, and even that, Yelena objects to. "No, don't come over here, I don't want your cigarette smell." Yelena said, feigning a cough.

"Yelena," Vel started, and now her voice says 'testy'. "Let's not be difficult here. We have something good going. You, you're my widow. And the boy in Blue...look at us, we're making progress. "

"I still can't believe you recruited that idiot." Yelena mumbled, and that, at least, got a smile out of Val.

"Devin James is a very promising, very versatile figure that can be very useful to operations like ours. Someone like her is the perfect candidate to-" Val pauses, grappling for the word. " -enrich our line-up. Big things are coming, Yelena. And big raises. If you can do this for me, it'll be a lot easier from here on out. You just have to trust me." Val whispers, leaning over the kitchen sink next to Yelena. "This goes smoothly, maybe next time around, you can squeeze in ten weeks." she wagers. "Twelve?"

For a moment, Yelena hesitated. Twelve weeks leave. A raise. She hangs on to the silence, holding out hope that maybe Val would sweeten the deal just a bit more, but finally, she caved.

Yelena sighed. "You still haven't told me the plan, what's the plan?"

A grin unfurls on Val's face. "Attagirl."