The Soulmate Initiative: Book 2

5. Mini Story 3

LOCATION: AVENGERS MANSION

The team are all sitting around, Ashley says "I sent the ID of the last person to access the vault through our search system, ran every CCTV and security cam in Hamburg." Nian notices "Fleming. That's the guy that buried the report." They watch security footage of him at an airport "Look. There. He was at the airport five hours ago." Stacey sighs "So he's left Germany. With the case." "He knows exactly what Calisto can do." Nian points out "Then he knows what it's worth on the black market. I'm broadening the search." Warren cuddles Lucy, who's health has continued deteriorating, closer to her "If Calisto falls in the wrong hands.." Stacey nods, stroking Lucy's hair "We have to get it back before it hurts more people." Nian nods "Well, now's our chance. Mr. Fleming just cleared passport control in Istanbul." Ashley groans "Oh, no. No." Prisha asks "What's your problem with Istanbul?" "I got food poisoning from undercooked lamb and yogurt sauce I left out, but then I got hungry." Stacey reverts the conversation "We don't know what this Calisto is or who wants it, so let's play it safe. We need to figure out where Mr. Fleming's meeting his buyer and get Calisto back before it becomes every bad guy's favorite new weapon." Nebula speaks "Like suitcase nukes." Prisha adds "Pet tigers." Ashley joins in "Jet Skis." Regina says "Sea-Doos." Ashley sighs happily "Cars that go fast really furiously." Rocket breaks it up "So how do we find him? Nian makes a suggestion "I might have a contact there. An asset from when I was undercover on a mission." Ashley asks "Uh, might? As in?" "As in she definitely lives there, and she definitely hates me."

LOCATION: ISTANBUL

Nian heads to Istanbul with Prisha, Lavina and Nebula. She leaves them at a hotel and heads out. She finds the woman she's looking for, helping sine children with their English and rewarding them with treats. Once the children have run off, Nian steps out of the shadows "Still supporting the local kids?" "You. Get away from me." The lady walks away and Nian jogs after her "Fatima, wait. Please, just talk to me." "Go talk to someone else. I can't get involved with you again." "Fatima, please wait." The woman stops walking and turns to Nian "I waited for you already. Remember?" "And I wasn't there for you, but I don't work for SHIELD anymore, I don't have to do every mission that they want from me. I'm an Avenger now." She walks away again "I don't care. I don't help you. You know why." Nian keeps trying "We are very well-funded. We can get whatever you need to get up and running again today. No waiting. No broken promises." The lady finally gives in and takes Nian to her house. She pours him tea "Thank you." "It's only tea. What do you want from me?" Nian pulls out his phone and shows Fleming's photograph "Have you seen this man? Maybe... you know someone who has." The lady looks very hesitant "Please. I can help you rebuild the clinic." "You can help me now?" "I'm sorry. I believed them when they told me my asset was safe." "And I believed you, but I lost everything. I had to turn away unwed mothers I could no longer help." "I know. But let me rebuild our trust. I brought you the usual. It's right outside." "Show me." The pair head out to a van and unlock it, revealing it stuffed full of boxes of medical supplies "I can get you another shipment in six months." "Four." Nian nods "So how long will it take for your sources to find our guy? Because we really need to..." "Let's get this off the street." They quickly unload the van into Fatima's house and once she's made a phone call, she tells Nian "Your man is in a hotel. The Pasha Hotel." "The Ibrahim Pasha? Do you know anybody who can get us into his room?" "Of course. I will take the van too." Nian reaches into her pocket and pulls out the van key, handing it over "Of course." Nian turns her earpiece on "Pasha. Let's go."

The team discuss "Let's learn all we can about Mr. Fleming's trip to Istanbul. When Fleming goes out, we go in. Double his devices. Gather all his communications. The when, the where, the who." At the hotel, Prisha let's the others know when Fleming has left his room, Nebula, disguised as a maid, then let's herself in. She pretends to clean and makes her way to a laptop, hacking into it "He's been looking at property in Costa Rica. And he's got an offshore bank account. Gotcha."

As Fleming walks through a market, Lavina and Prisha tail him. Prisha says "Lavina, he's almost there." Nian, over comms says "Nebula, text him now." As Fleming looks down at his phone, Lavina, who's standing beside where he's stopped, sticks her foot out. Fleming falls over, dropping his phone and other belongings. Prisha quickly grabs his phone and slips a device into the back of it, while people check on him and help him. When Prisha is done, he drops the phone, kicking it away from him and a man finds it, handing it to Fleming.

Ashley tells the others "Alrighty, here it is. We filtered his communications, and it seems Mr. Fleming is selling Calisto tomorrow at the Turkish derby. Veliefendi Hippodrome. Of course, this particular racetrack is popular with a syndicate of wealthy businessmen." Nian adds "No doubt with connections to international arms deals, drug trade and..." Stacey concludes "All parties who might be interested in Calisto. Familiarise yourselves: syndicate members, wealthy horse owners expected to attend. Flag anyone Fleming could be in business with. There's a lot of ground to cover, so we're gonna need to spread out." Nian looks at the three females in front of him "Nebula, you'll be our eye in the sky. The track's mainframe's located just inside the press box. We'll get you in. You hack into the security cameras. Watch for Mr. Fleming. Lavina's on crowd control. Turkish derby attracts thousands of spectators who need to be scanned and assessed. Start low, go high. From your nest, you can provide tactical support. Take out any threats to the operation. Prisha, you'll run the ground game. Once the target's on site, you make the grab. We need Fleming, his buyer and Calisto. No loose ends. I'll take care of the transportation and prep for extraction. We're taking everybody out of there with us. I have just the vehicle to do it."

Up in the box, Nebula, in disguise and really dressed up, finishes hacking in on her tablet and sits down by a window "Okay, and I'm in." She picks up her binoculars "Hello, Lavina. There you are." She can see her in a metal tower, where she's loading a rifle with tranquilliser darts.

A man sits down opposite Nebula, putting his paper on the table between them "I just missed a superfecta. Better luck in the third run, I hope. Hey, what's your bet?" "Um..." She looks over the sheet of horses "The blue one." Nian speaks up "Six minutes to post time. Anybody see anything?" Prisha, who's dressed up like a jockey, says "Nothing yet." "Lavina, you got anything yet?" "Nothing." Nebula notices someone with guards approaching the grounds, she zooms in on his face on the security cams on her table, then turns it to the man opposite her "Excuse me, who is that?" "Alim Hassan. Qatari prince." "Oh, Qatari prince." "Yeah, serious money." "Serious money." "Owns hundreds of horses." "Owns hundreds of horses?" He gives her a weird look "Yeah." Prisha rolls her eyes "We get it. He's rich. Is he the buyer?" Lavina sighs "I don't have an angle." Nebula jumps up "Prisha! Fleming. That's him. Light blue suit!" She quickly walks out of the box to where she can see better with her binoculars, Fleming is behind the Prince's guards "Yeah, he's here. That's definitely him. Prisha?" Prisha can now see him from the ground, and he's carrying a case "Got him. He has the goods. Moving in. Lavina?" "In my sights. Nian?" "The ride is ready." "He's talking to somebody. Grey suit. Is that the buyer?" As the man I the grey suit turns his head in little, Lavina's eyes widen "It's the guy who tried to kill me." Nian tells her "Take the shot, Lavina. Bag him." Fleming is getting into one side of a car, the assassin getting into the other. Lavina shoots for the assassin, but misses and gets someone else with the tranquilliser instead. Prisha sees the car start to drive and people start to panic "Oh, shit." "They're in the Mercedes. There's no sale here." Nian calls out "We gotta go! Get down here." Nebula reports "I'm coming!" As Nebula and Lavina quickly make their way down, while Prisha runs in the same direction as the car. She speeds along. Nian says "Prisha! Get a tracker on that Mercedes!" "On it!"

Nian drives an ambulance into the grounds "Coming in! Come on. Move, move, move." Lavina gets in and Nian calls "Come on, Nebula!" "I'm coming!" Nian turns the ambulance around and Nebula reaches them, jumping in "Go, go, go!" Prisha tags the back of the vehicle with a tracker and runs back a bit, hoping they didn't see her. The ambulance pulls up alongside her and Lavina pulls her inside "Hey, guys." "Get in here." The door closes "Okay, punch it." Nian cheers "Here we go! Great job!" Prisha cheers too "Whoo!" Nian asks "Nebula, can you please track him?" "On it." Nian groans at the speed they're going "We cannot tail him in this." He spots a fast car parked nearby "Hold on." He quickly parks incredibly well and they all jump out, he speedily hotwires the car and they drive away.