The atmosphere shifted the moment they stepped out of the briefing room.
The heavy silence that had weighed on the operatives during the announcement began to crack, giving way to an undercurrent of restless energy. It started as soft murmurs in the hallway, then grew into bursts of laughter and hushed excitement.
For many of them, it was the first time in months some, years that they'd be stepping beyond the iron perimeter of the compound. It didn't matter that it was a mission so dangerous considering that they requested all of them in ground. It didn't matter that danger hung over every assignment like a shadow.
For a fleeting moment, it felt like freedom.
Anne slung her pack over her shoulder and spun it once in a playful arc, grinning at Lucy.
"Paris, babe. Can you believe that? Actual air that doesn't smell like sweat and boredom."
Lucy let out a laugh, light and unrestrained. "I might cry if I see a café."
Issa leaned against the wall, arms crossed but a smile tugging at her lips. "You'll cry when you realize we're not on vacation."
"Oh, come on," Scarlet cut in, tightening the straps on her duffel. "Let them have this. We might as well enjoy the walk to hell."
The men weren't any different. Though most masked their excitement beneath stoic faces, their movements gave them away. Some joked about wearing cologne for the first time in weeks, others swapped rough banter about who'd look less like a warhound in a civilized city.
Even Klaus, quiet as ever, could feel the shift the way the air felt almost alive. His head still throbbed faintly, but it was buried beneath the effects of the pills.
◆ ◆ ◆
Dawn came cloaked in a pale blue light.
The departure site was alive with movement as buses gleaming in the low sun, engines purring, operatives lining up in squads. For the men, it was luxurious black buses, polished to a mirror shine, tinted windows shielding the outside world from prying eyes. The air smelled faintly of fresh leather and engine oil.
Inside, the seats were soft, almost too comfortable for soldiers who had slept on cots and cold floors. A few of the men whistled under their breath, running their hands over the armrests like they'd never felt fabric that smooth.
"Damn," one muttered, dropping into his seat with a grin. "If they treated us like this every day, maybe I'd actually enjoy this job."
Laughter rolled through the bus, loud and unrestrained. Someone cracked open a pack of gum, another started a beat with his boots on the floor, and soon a low rhythm filled the air.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, the female team was met with something entirely unexpected.
A sleek, black private jet stood waiting its body reflecting the soft blush of dawn. Its engines hummed quietly, like a predator breathing before a hunt.
Anne's eyes went wide. "No way."
Lucy clutched her bag. "We're not actually flying in that, right?"
"Oh, we are," Scarlet said, a grin breaking across her face despite herself. "I guess someone wants their little dolls to arrive in style."
The interior was nothing short of stunning cream leather seats, gold-trimmed fixtures, and the faint scent of expensive polish. Issa ran her fingers across the window frame, her usual calm cracking into a small, genuine smile.
For a brief, fragile moment, they all let themselves feel it normalcy. The illusion of a world outside the compound.
******* ****** *****
Hours later, the city of lights spread out beneath them like a painting.
"Paris" a city of towers, domes, and elegant rooftops, wrapped in morning mist. The golden spire of Eiffel Tower pierced the sky like a silent sentinel, and the Seine curled through the heart of the city like a ribbon of silver.
The female team's plane descended smoothly toward a private airstrip on the outskirts, the luxury of the moment almost surreal against the weight of their true purpose. The male convoys followed not far behind, weaving through highways toward the same rendezvous point.
As Klaus gazed out the tinted bus window, the city lights reflected in his tired eyes.
For just a second, he let himself imagine what it would feel like to be a normal man stepping into a foreign city not as a weapon, not as a lab rat.
Just as a person.
But the thought dissolved as quickly as it came as the pain in his head increased.
From the distance they were all gathered, the city was alive, humming beneath the pale morning sun.
But as the operatives began filing into their respective groups, something in his vision stuttered.
For half a second as time goes by for Klaus, the world blurred edges bending, voices warping like sound underwater. Faces he recognized became shapes, uniforms melted into a sea of grey. Then, just as quickly as it came, everything snapped back into brutal clarity.
His breath hitched. He clenched his jaw, steadying himself, pretending like nothing happened.
Not now.
Engines rumbled again just in time not to be noticed by anyone. A second convoy rolled up to the private strip, smooth black cars reflecting the light like predators in a cage.
The doors opened, and out stepped Rose.
She wasn't in the usual black ops combat uniform that mirrored their existence in steel and blood. Instead, she wore something far more disarming elegant French couture: a cream trench coat that hugged her frame, a silk scarf tied loosely around her neck, and a tilted black beret casting a shadow across her sharp eyes. Her heels clicked softly against the tarmac as she walked, like a metronome setting the rhythm of the scene.
Even the men, hardened as they were, paused for the briefest heartbeat. She looked less like a weapon and more like someone who belonged in this city. A civilian. A ghost. A lie.
But Klaus's gaze wasn't drawn to her beauty. It was drawn to the way his memory *snapped*.
It was rose at least he didn't forget but the surprise to him was her improved complexion and skin which was now a bit tan, for a terrifying moment, when she turned toward him with that familiar slight smile, he couldn't place her name.
"wphew," she said softly, walking toward him. Her voice grounded him more than he wanted to admit. "You all are looking like you've seen a ghost."
Everyone just like Klaus were surprised since it hadn't even been a full day since some of them had seen her and now she's already different and this could only mean that the miracle doctor Maru performed on her was now complete.
"Hmm." Her gaze lingered on the horizon longer than usual, sharp, reading him like a code she was trained to break. " We better not get lost in the view if not we might end up falling in love with the city."
Around them, the teams were regrouping, laughter and orders mixing with the sound of luggage wheels on concrete. Scarlet and the other women filed out of the jet with practiced ease, their playful mood fading as the weight of the mission settled over them like fog.
Rose looking around stopped beside her teammates, then came shoulder brushing the listless Kristen. "You alright?" she asked under her breath, too quiet for anyone else to hear.
She then forced a steady exhale, keeping his tone flat. "Always, what else cold be a bother."
And as the convoy began to move toward the waiting vans that would take them deeper into the heart of Paris, many sighs echoed in each mind