Emily (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2019-12-22 03:37 pm
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2019-12-22 03:37 pm
Entry tags:
tumblr prompts { 2020 } prompt-a-palooza
Basically, I've been saving a bunch of writing prompts and when I went to clean out my likes and I've decided to write something for each of them at some point in 2020. Probably after I do the next draft of Paladin? Don't know yet!
Anyway, prompts will be linked with the fics, feel free to track if you're interested, IDK who is even following my journal anymore but enjoy.
#010 ~ family business ~ original ~ 1,876
“Jesus, Stella.”
Asher groans as he stumbles backward, feeling the right hook that Stella delivered to his face. Stella smirks as she hops back, fists still raised to anticipate the blow that will likely follow. Asher rubs at the soreness in his jaw before shaking his head to clear the stars from his eyes. They were only sparring, so theoretically, they should be taking it easy on each other, but Asher knows from experience that for Stella, practice doesn’t mean shit if it doesn’t prepare you for the eventualities of the field.
“Could you not with the face?”
“Or what?” she grins. “Are you worried I’ve permanently disfigured your handsome features?”
He rolls his eyes before bringing himself up again. “Sorry, I thought this was a sparring session.”
“Sparring-schmarring,” she teases. “Gotta keep you on your toes. Now, are you gonna pay me back or what?”
Asher grins before sending himself flying towards his twin sister, taking advantage of his weight and size on her to try and throw her off balance. You may be smaller and lither than a freight train, but a freight train is still a freight train.
Stella ducks the first blow, bringing up her fists to catch him under the ribs. The first fist hits, but he arcs away from the second. Then, he drops down and tries to catch her at her ankles with a leg sweep. The first foot comes up, but the second isn’t quite fast enough, tripping over the edge of his leg and sending her stumbling backward. Her arms windmill as she tries to regain her balance, and he grins at her.
“How’s that for keeping you on your toes?”
She laughs, something delightfully manic, before heading in to charge at him again. Stella has always been the more violent of the two. Asher would be more than happy to stick with hacking and charm to get him by in the field, as much as it would be to his detriment, but Stella has always craved violence. She liked the idea that she knew multiple ways to kill a man, and if you pissed her off enough, there’s still the chance that she would give you a sneak preview. There’s no one he would rather have watching his back in the field, even if the innocent sparring offer is something he’s going to regret later.
Her fists came flying, forcing to bring up his arms to keep her away from his face again. Left, right, left-right, until one of her hands find his shoulders, and he catches a glimpse of her knee coming up towards the delicate region that no man wants to take a blow to, sparring or not. His hands come down quickly, catching her knee and pushing it backward, away from him.
“Low blow.”
“But you caught it. Not bad, brother.”
He rolls his eyes, and as she comes at him again, he grabs hold of her arm as he evades, twisting it back over his shoulder as his body slides between them. Shifting her weight over his back, he throws her down onto the mat, hearing her connect with a satisfying smack.
He looks down at her with a smirk as he holds her in place. “You done yet?”
Stella’s eyes flash up at him, and what happens next is a flurry of limbs; one catches him under the shoulder, the other wraps around his neck, and she rolls him quickly into place on the mat, one arm extended above his head and held tightly in her firm grasp.
As though to reinforce that she is still going easy on him, even if it doesn’t feel easy.
He smacks the mat twice, tapping out, and she grins before releasing him. “You’re getting better.”
“I’ll take it,” he grumbles as he rolls up, making his way over and grabbing the water bottles they stashed nearby. “Ever going to let me win?”
“Only if you earn it,” she smirks before settling comfortably on the mat and starting to stretch out her sweaty limbs. “I’m not kidding, though. You are getting better.”
“Only because you work me half to death.”
Stella smirks as she falls forward, stretching her arms out over her extended leg and catching the arch of her foot. Years of gymnastics only seemed to add to her agility as a fighter, rather than detract from it. Asher couldn’t help but be jealous. “Look, as much as I appreciate your keen, scientific mind and head for computers, it’s better if you know how to protect yourself. Then I don’t have to be distracted by trying to protect you.”
“No, no, I get it,” Asher nods, taking another swallow of water. “I just wish that it came a little more naturally.”
“It will. You’ll get there.”
“Agents Grayden?”
Whatever response Asher had to his sister’s concerns dies before he can say it, as they both turn to face their immediate superior, Agent Hayden Wallstone. In his fifties, the graying man appraises each of them as though he might regret what he’s about to say, but orders are orders, and therefore he has to tell them. It’s not the first time he’s worn that expression when giving the twins a mission, and it probably won’t be the last.
When things go wrong, the Grayden twins tend to make quite the splash.
“Sir?” Stella asks, pulling herself to her feet with a frown. “Is there something wrong?”
“You’re being called up for a mission.” Wallstone glances between the two of them. “Clean up and report to the briefing room at oh-seven-thirty.”
Asher’s eyes float to the clock ticking away above their superior officer’s head. Ten to seven. That isn’t a lot of time to get mission-presentable, but they’d be able to make it work. “Yes, sir,” he nods before going to gather his things from the training room floor.
“Any clue what this mission is about?” Stella asks curiously. She likes to be prepared, as her brain isn’t a walking encyclopedia of information. Asher inherited that particular talent, allowing him to walk into any briefing with the requisite knowledge to sound impressive. Stella, on the other hand, needs to do her homework.
“Unfortunately, that’s above my paygrade,” Wallstone responds, and suddenly the looming regret makes sense. If the Graydens were deploying on a mission that was too need-to-know for their boss to know it, it makes sense that he would be feeling resentful. “You’ll find out when you get to the briefing.”
Stella and Asher share a curious look, already wondering what this could mean, before nodding their agreement. “Yes, sir,” Asher nods. “We’ll be there.”
Wallstone nods before stepping out of the room, leaving the twins contemplating what all of this might mean. Stella frowns before glancing at her brother. “Do you think—”
“I don’t know,” Asher replies. “Meet you at the door in twenty?”
Stella nods before turning and disappearing into the women’s locker room.
Thirty minutes later, about ten minutes early for their scheduled briefing, the twins are sitting comfortably in the chairs outside the door, dressed like the consummate agents they were born to be. Asher fiddles with his tie restlessly and periodically check his watch while Stella scrolls her phone, looking for any hints in the international news as to what this may entail.
Most of the time, the agency wants them to get ahead of any traumatizing world events. That’s their goal, after all, to protect people who may fall through the cracks. But sometimes those cracks did happen, and they have to be reactive rather than proactive. Stella frowns as she keeps scrolling, before shaking her head as she pulls back to look at her brother.
“Nothing too concerning. Though I’m not sure what it is we’re supposed to be looking for.”
“It’ll be fine,” Asher nods before reaching over to rest a hand on her shoulder. “It probably means we’re getting something new.”
New assignments were personally Asher’s favorite. Lots of new information to uncover. On the other hand, Stella liked to retread familiar territory, where she could get the lay of the land and have an idea of what they may encounter. Caution versus curiosity was a blend that worked well for them as a team, and Asher had yet to hear any complaints from their superiors.
The door opens, and Fallon Heder, the assistant to the agency head, pokes her head out and gestures for them to come forward. “Grayden and Grayden? You’re up.”
The twins rise from their seats and head into the briefing room, taking seats on the opposite side of the table from the agency's chief. Jasper Hills was a gruff older man, who some joked might have been born in a suit from how he handled himself in it, but he seemed more tired than bitter or angry. He weighs the world on his shoulders, knowing about the varying threats the world had to offer and cursed with the struggle of trying to figure out how to deal with them. Jasper glances over at the twins as they take their seats, and he shifts to lean forward, folding his hands in front of himself.
“So,” he begins slowly, drumming his fingers lightly on the desk. “I’m going to assume you know why you’re here.”
“You have a mission for us, sir,” Asher begins, not wanting to assume too much. But when he sees the resolved look on his face, he becomes more concerned that it may be what Stella was thinking earlier. He hopes that it isn’t, and the intelligence will prove different, but odds are starting to inch in Stella’s favor.
She, wisely, keeps her mouth shut. It’s better to wait than assume in this particular circumstance. Before reaching for the clicker and changing the view on the projected screen from the agency’s logo to an image of an older woman, Jasper sighs, with graying silver hair and impeccable makeup.
“Our contacts recently sighted Lila Valbrond just outside of Turkmenistan. We’ve received word from our informants that she’s been reaching out to her contacts asking for a particular set of gear.” The clicker sounds again, and a long list of very damning evidence appears on the screen in the place of the woman’s picture. “We think she’s planning another regime change.”
Stella and Asher look at each other with concern before turning back to Jasper again. He regards them both seriously, as though he doesn’t want to ask this of them, but unfortunately, they don’t have many options.
“I know this is your grandmother, and family business can make things complicated. But you’re the only ones who can get close enough. We can’t let her destabilize another region. It’s only going to make things worse, and many people will die in the process. I only ask that you be honest with me on whether or not you’re ready to take this case.”
Stella and Asher glance at each other again, but they both already know what the answer will be. Even though this is their grandmother, they know what she’s doing is wrong and dangerous. They need to put a stop to her once and for all.
They nod and say, simultaneously:
“We’re in.”