[20th Spymaster log] Old Friends

A woman in a simple, tasteful gray coat walked along the side of Paris’ Champs-Elysees.  She walked purposefully, piercing blue eyes scanning the midday shopping crowd around her, before stopping at the door to one of the street’s many upscale cafes and looking around the seating area. The one she was looking for rarely made herself easy to find; quite the opposite, as was her habit (and her hobby, and once in a while, her greatest joy in life). But once in a while…

Once in a while she sat in a cafe, blonde hair brilliant as the sun, in fashion that may have been purchased just minutes ago. Their eyes met for a fraction of a moment, and she gave a small but enthusiastic wave.

The blue-eyed woman smiled happily and moved quickly to the table.  “Salut, Monique!  Comment ca va?”  She spoke a bit louder than necessary.  Several of the patrons at the surrounding tables glanced over disapprovingly, then paid the loud woman no further mind.

“Severine!” her partner squealed, though she forced it down just slightly lower - ever so slightly. In an instant, she stood to brush her lips to the other woman’s cheeks, an age-old ritual that surely predated answering simple questions. “Tres bien, tres bien~ Et toi? Asseyez-vous, asseyez-vous~”

“Merci, merci.” The other woman sat quickly, leaning to rest her elbows on the table.  In a lower voice, she added,  “It’s good to see you again.”

The blonde beamed as she settled back in. “Likewise. Thank you for doing me this little courtesy. You’ve been very busy, haven’t you?” It was a smile that could almost be confused for fake, in its odd, grey sincerity.

‘Severine’ smiled wryly.  “Busy is one way to put it.  Jumping at shadows and skulking about behind the scenes might be more accurate.  It’s not the way I prefer to operate, but I didn’t really have much choice.”

“We do what we must. As a professional skulker, I can assure you, you get used to it.” ‘Monique’s’ smile melted, turned unquestionably kind for at least a few moments. “And if anyone can pull them through this, it’s you. Just hang in there.”

Severine snorted.  “They don’t even know I’m still alive.  You have any idea how that damned cat is going to react when he finds out?  To say nothing of the Russian.”

Monique’s voice twisted, distorted for a moment, now high and inhuman. “I prefer my assets to be available to deploy at my convenience. It would be ill-advised to continue as you have where I cannot make proper use of your abilities.” It was only for a moment, however - after she cleared her throat, her voice returned to its purring soprano. “If he’s anything like ours, anyway.”

“Heh.  More or less, yes.  Just with more screenings, interrogations, and time in a Silent Room.”  Severine crossed her legs.  “But enough about that.  What have you been up to while I’ve been playing dead?  I’ve heard a few things recently.”

Monique quirked an eyebrow, a bemused expression playing its way onto her face only to be interrupted with coffee arriving, and the pleasantries involved.

“You’ve heard things? Do go on.”

Her friend accepted her cup with a word of thanks, and sipped before answering.  “The unfortunate accident that befell a certain Foreign Minister recently.  That nasty business in Uganda.  Need I go on?”

“Now, now, isn’t it a little rude to assume we’re involved in EVERY suspicious thing that happens?” She brought her coffee to her lips, then yanked it away, scowling at the cup. Too hot. Much too hot. “Although it’s true that a certain Minister was making it a little difficult for a few of our continued operations. I would just call it...good luck? Or kismet, if I was feeling romantic. And I usually am.”

Severine spread her hands with a smile.  “Of course, of course.  I congratulate you on your stroke of luck.  I was merely curious.  Your operations do have a certain...style to them, for someone who knows where to look for it.”

The blonde giggled, flashing her friend a grin. “Well, I have never been accused of modesty. It drives the cat up the wall sometimes, though - everything needs to have a certain style. He says it isn’t clean, but I’ve always thought there was something to adding a little flavor. The most private place is a room full of people, and all that.”

“Indeed.  I admit, you’ve always been better at that side of things than I.  I much prefer to not be seen at all.  Removes that chance of detection.  And my methods are admittedly somewhat more...direct...than yours.”

“It’s just the game of it, I guess...we’re both old ladies, let’s not kid ourselves, here. We’ve been doing this for a long time. Sometimes you just need to...spice it up a little bit. Keep it fresh, keep it fun. But the way I see it, whether a man dies in an explosion, an accident, or from a shot to the head from five kilometers away, he’s dead.”

Severine let out a bark of laughter.  “Don’t let the cat hear that, he’ll go on for hours about the collateral damage the last time I tried to ‘spice up’ an operation.”  She paused.  “Okay, in all fairness, a stolen Davy Crockett is not the most efficient way I’ve ever killed someone, but damned if it wasn’t fun.  I’m told the whole town’s still uninhabitable.”

Monique let out a soft puff of air, almost as though she were blowing on her coffee - which, in all fairness, she had been. “I wonder sometimes what it would have been like if I’d joined up with you, back then. Not like we’re an organization that does transfers, mind, or choices very often. I’ve always enjoyed that kind of thing, but if I ever did that… ...well, if I ever did that without a mountain of evidence implicating somebody else…” Probably the Tenth. Screw those guys. Even her boss would agree with that. “Well, let’s just say pulling stunts like that gets you replaced where I come from.” ‘Replaced’ carried as much of a sinister undertone as she could place on it, being a chipper blonde currently whining about her hot coffee.

“You say it like I had a choice.”  Severine gave her friend a sour look.  “It was vanish or get vanished.  I just chose to leave before I could get disappeared.”   She sighed.  “And yeah.  You and I would’ve made a great team.  Still could.”

“Sorry, sorry. I meant nuking a town. The rest is S.O.P., really.” And her friend snorted into her coffee. “...Mmm, we really could, though, couldn’t we? I’d like that. And it sounds like you could use it right now, too.” Another sip, this time without a vicious reflex. This was...still a little hot, but fine. Normally she had people to do this kind of thing for her, damn it.

“Mmm.  As long as the Russian is running the Officio, I can’t move openly.  On the other hand, few of your people specialize in my kind of work, from what little I’ve gathered.  We can help each other.”  She raised her cup, blue eyes fixed on her friend’s.

Monique let out a soft noise, letting a minute pass as she quietly sipped at her coffee. Her eyes were open, but distant, as though she were somewhere else entirely.

“There’s trouble in the west for us, at the moment. I’d say it was a hunch, but really, I just don’t trust some of my subordinates enough to run around unsupervised.” It was a trust well-misplaced, anyway, more than a handful of them had made attempts on her life before. “Between that and Girl A’s fresh promotion in the Ninth, we’ve been spread thin lately.”

She leaned back in her seat, swirling the part-empty cup in front of her. “And it would be an insult to my rifle if I couldn’t spare a few weeks to study the target, see. There are Rules. But I think I could make a good case for it. We don’t get many chances to usher in a new Warmaster, and I would absolutely love to work with such a reliable group…”

‘Severine’ grinned fiercely.  “Well then.  I am at your disposal, my friend.  Use me well.”

“Excellent!” ‘Monique’ squeaked, with an enthusiasm utterly shattering the sanctity of their conversation. “At the moment, we’re concentrating most of our efforts on Japanese internal affairs. We can arrange somewhere quiet for you to stay there while I work out the logistics with the cat and see to it that our other affairs are being properly accounted for.”

“Very well.”  ‘Severine’s smile widened.  “It’ll be good to be back in the saddle again.  I haven’t had any fun in years.”

“I’ll be looking forward to your performance, Voyevoda.” The blonde smirked, eyes narrowing slightly. She shifted effortlessly from an excitable fashionista to something much cooler, much older, then right back again in the span of only a few seconds. “I won’t disappoint you, myself, naturally.”

“I would expect no less from the Spymaster.  Or from my old friend.”  The woman who was neither blonde nor named Severine stood.  “I’ll return to my hotel for the time being.  Let me know when you’ve made the arrangements.”  She hesitated, and her expression softened a bit.  “It’s good to see you again.”

“I missed you too, Joy.”