Deep cover was the only way Hydra could survive in the current climate of world politics, and unfortunately, deep cover came naturally to an organisation that had been hiding in just about every organisation the world over until very recently. With the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the rising of A.E.G.I.S., however, Hydra had been forced into the shadows once again, and what better way to do that than to manage their own projects from within the confines of other intelligence agencies" Project Overmind had been whispered about just enough to catch the attention of A.E.G.I.S., but for those working on it, they had no idea Hydra was involved at all.
Still, things were not ....comfortable ....in the facility deep beneath Murmansk. People were disappearing, and enquiries into their whereabouts were not encouraged. Thus, one of the higher-ranking engineers had broken rank to secretly contact A.E.G.I.S., offering information on Project Overmind in exchange for her own safety. A few days ago, the message had come back to her - be ready to make contact. And to someone else in the facility, another message - make contact and confirm before operation initialised.
It wasn't too difficult to make contact, even inside a high-security research facility such as this one, especially when you were posing as a security agent and had access to employee information. He had been given her name and had learned her habits, knowing she took lunch at noon everyday. It wouldn't be hard for him to make some excuse to get away to the cafeteria for a little while, even if it just meant grabbing a cup of coffee and dropping her a note.
And sure enough, there she was, her access pass lighting up the security screen as she let herself out of the lab where she was working to walk toward the cafeteria, apparently lost in thought. Aleksandra Biala was not exactly a loner, nor was she difficult to talk to, but when she was working, she cultivated an air that demanded she be left alone. And right now ....she had a lot on her mind.
The moment he'd been waiting for had arrived, but he waited a few minutes longer, not only to give her time to get to the cafeteria, but so as not to arouse any suspicion among the other security guards. He used coffee as an excuse, asking if anyone else wanted a cup, before swiping his way out of the security room and starting toward the cafeteria.
By the time he reached the cafeteria, she was already sitting at the far end of the one of the long tables, unenthusiastically eating steaming soup as she frowned down at calculations she was making on a pad. Not so absorbed that she didn't acknowledge colleagues who called to her in hello, however.
Though he noticed where his contact was located, Maxim Ivanovich, A.E.G.I.S. sleeper agent, code name Uncle, passed her by on his way to buy a cup of coffee. He greeted a few employees with a friendly smile, most of them women - techs who worked in the building and liked to make sure he noticed them. He made a little idle chitchat here and there before he excused himself and wandered toward his contact's table.
Distracted she might be, but she wasn't blind. Nor was the sight of the best-looking security agent in the facility walking through the cafeteria a surprise. What was a surprise was that he seemed to be walking toward her table. Aleksandra glanced along the line of the table, a little disappointed to note other security agents sitting at the other end. Oh, well. Fantasies had kept her going for the last four years, she could put up with the fantasy of Ivanovich noticing her being curb-dropped yet again.
He stopped to chat with the group of security agents, laughing and sharing a joke or two that may or may not have involved her, before continuing on until he was standing in front of her, all six feet five inches of him. "Care for company?" he asked in perfect Russian.
Startled was a very good word for the expression on her face as Aleksandra looked up - and further up - at Ivanovich. She could practically feel the waves of envy rolling from most of the women in the cafeteria, and some of the men, too. A little at a loss, she found herself gesturing for him to sit. "Be my guest." Her own Russian was just a little accented, proof that she was not a native speaker.
"The lunch room is crowded this time of day," he said, creating an excuse for his reason to be joining her. Though the cafeteria was crowded, there were enough empty seats that he didn't have to sit there, unless he chose to. "I'm on my coffee break," he added, as he slid into a chair across from her.
"So I see." She looked him over, dark eyes quietly admiring him for a moment. "I don't think we have been introduced, though everyone knows who you are. Aleksandra Biala, engineering."
"I know who you are, Miss Biala," he replied, with that charming smile of his. "It's my business to know," he added, with an amused gleam in his eyes. Even if this was just a ruse, he seemed to be enjoying it.
"Do you?" Despite herself, she smiled, her eyes sliding away only to return, flirting unconsciously. It was very flattering to have the subject of several ladies' quiet hopes single her out, after all. "And why does the most eligible bachelor in the facility know who I am?"
"I know who everyone is, Miss Biala, even if they don't know me," he told her, pausing to take a sip of his coffee. "I'm catching a hint of an accent. Poland?" he asked, trying to make small talk so that he could slip a pre-decided code phrase into the conversation.
Her brow rose, put on the defensive by the question. Too many people had questioned her credentials when she had arrived for her not to be a little prickly about it. "Do you have a problem with my being Polish, agent?"
"Polish is almost Russian," he replied, an almost teasing smirk on his face. "Tell me, Miss Biala, can you cook" It's been a long time since I've had a good golabki." And there it was - the code phrase.
She stared at him, shocked to hear that phrase from this man. Maxim Ivanovich was the A.E.G.I.S. agent here in the facility' Realising that her expression was not appropriate, she tried to cover her shock, looking down at her soup for a moment as she summoned up the answering phrase from the back of her mind. "No one makes golabki better than the Polish, Mr. Ivanovich." Something made her relax a little as she added, "But my bigos is very good indeed."
"Perhaps you should prove it," he continued. "How would you feel about having dinner with me some night?" he asked, as though he was asking her on a date, like any man interested in a woman might. But what he was really doing was fishing for a date during which he would sneak her out of Russia.
"If you are asking me to cook for you, you will have to find a private kitchen somewhere," she pointed out. It would have been nice if this conversation was actually about asking her on a date, but now she knew who he was, she knew his being here with her had nothing to do with him finding her in any way attractive. She was his mark, and right now, he was her only hope of getting out of the country safely.
What he actually thought of her might surprise her, but regardless of whether he found her attractive or not, it was his duty and responsibility, first and foremost, to get her out of the country. "That is exactly what I'm asking," he replied with a grin that looked a little too genuine to be fake. "I presume you have a roommate?"
She tilted her head, a curious flicker of a smile on her face. "I live in the facility," she pointed out. "Does the master security agent who seems to have looked me up really not know my living arrangements" Or are we pretending that you have not looked at my file now?"
"Even a master security agent can't remember everything," he retorted with a wink. "I might be able to arrange for a private kitchen," he told her, his words telling her one thing, but his eyes telling her another.
Still, things were not ....comfortable ....in the facility deep beneath Murmansk. People were disappearing, and enquiries into their whereabouts were not encouraged. Thus, one of the higher-ranking engineers had broken rank to secretly contact A.E.G.I.S., offering information on Project Overmind in exchange for her own safety. A few days ago, the message had come back to her - be ready to make contact. And to someone else in the facility, another message - make contact and confirm before operation initialised.
It wasn't too difficult to make contact, even inside a high-security research facility such as this one, especially when you were posing as a security agent and had access to employee information. He had been given her name and had learned her habits, knowing she took lunch at noon everyday. It wouldn't be hard for him to make some excuse to get away to the cafeteria for a little while, even if it just meant grabbing a cup of coffee and dropping her a note.
And sure enough, there she was, her access pass lighting up the security screen as she let herself out of the lab where she was working to walk toward the cafeteria, apparently lost in thought. Aleksandra Biala was not exactly a loner, nor was she difficult to talk to, but when she was working, she cultivated an air that demanded she be left alone. And right now ....she had a lot on her mind.
The moment he'd been waiting for had arrived, but he waited a few minutes longer, not only to give her time to get to the cafeteria, but so as not to arouse any suspicion among the other security guards. He used coffee as an excuse, asking if anyone else wanted a cup, before swiping his way out of the security room and starting toward the cafeteria.
By the time he reached the cafeteria, she was already sitting at the far end of the one of the long tables, unenthusiastically eating steaming soup as she frowned down at calculations she was making on a pad. Not so absorbed that she didn't acknowledge colleagues who called to her in hello, however.
Though he noticed where his contact was located, Maxim Ivanovich, A.E.G.I.S. sleeper agent, code name Uncle, passed her by on his way to buy a cup of coffee. He greeted a few employees with a friendly smile, most of them women - techs who worked in the building and liked to make sure he noticed them. He made a little idle chitchat here and there before he excused himself and wandered toward his contact's table.
Distracted she might be, but she wasn't blind. Nor was the sight of the best-looking security agent in the facility walking through the cafeteria a surprise. What was a surprise was that he seemed to be walking toward her table. Aleksandra glanced along the line of the table, a little disappointed to note other security agents sitting at the other end. Oh, well. Fantasies had kept her going for the last four years, she could put up with the fantasy of Ivanovich noticing her being curb-dropped yet again.
He stopped to chat with the group of security agents, laughing and sharing a joke or two that may or may not have involved her, before continuing on until he was standing in front of her, all six feet five inches of him. "Care for company?" he asked in perfect Russian.
Startled was a very good word for the expression on her face as Aleksandra looked up - and further up - at Ivanovich. She could practically feel the waves of envy rolling from most of the women in the cafeteria, and some of the men, too. A little at a loss, she found herself gesturing for him to sit. "Be my guest." Her own Russian was just a little accented, proof that she was not a native speaker.
"The lunch room is crowded this time of day," he said, creating an excuse for his reason to be joining her. Though the cafeteria was crowded, there were enough empty seats that he didn't have to sit there, unless he chose to. "I'm on my coffee break," he added, as he slid into a chair across from her.
"So I see." She looked him over, dark eyes quietly admiring him for a moment. "I don't think we have been introduced, though everyone knows who you are. Aleksandra Biala, engineering."
"I know who you are, Miss Biala," he replied, with that charming smile of his. "It's my business to know," he added, with an amused gleam in his eyes. Even if this was just a ruse, he seemed to be enjoying it.
"Do you?" Despite herself, she smiled, her eyes sliding away only to return, flirting unconsciously. It was very flattering to have the subject of several ladies' quiet hopes single her out, after all. "And why does the most eligible bachelor in the facility know who I am?"
"I know who everyone is, Miss Biala, even if they don't know me," he told her, pausing to take a sip of his coffee. "I'm catching a hint of an accent. Poland?" he asked, trying to make small talk so that he could slip a pre-decided code phrase into the conversation.
Her brow rose, put on the defensive by the question. Too many people had questioned her credentials when she had arrived for her not to be a little prickly about it. "Do you have a problem with my being Polish, agent?"
"Polish is almost Russian," he replied, an almost teasing smirk on his face. "Tell me, Miss Biala, can you cook" It's been a long time since I've had a good golabki." And there it was - the code phrase.
She stared at him, shocked to hear that phrase from this man. Maxim Ivanovich was the A.E.G.I.S. agent here in the facility' Realising that her expression was not appropriate, she tried to cover her shock, looking down at her soup for a moment as she summoned up the answering phrase from the back of her mind. "No one makes golabki better than the Polish, Mr. Ivanovich." Something made her relax a little as she added, "But my bigos is very good indeed."
"Perhaps you should prove it," he continued. "How would you feel about having dinner with me some night?" he asked, as though he was asking her on a date, like any man interested in a woman might. But what he was really doing was fishing for a date during which he would sneak her out of Russia.
"If you are asking me to cook for you, you will have to find a private kitchen somewhere," she pointed out. It would have been nice if this conversation was actually about asking her on a date, but now she knew who he was, she knew his being here with her had nothing to do with him finding her in any way attractive. She was his mark, and right now, he was her only hope of getting out of the country safely.
What he actually thought of her might surprise her, but regardless of whether he found her attractive or not, it was his duty and responsibility, first and foremost, to get her out of the country. "That is exactly what I'm asking," he replied with a grin that looked a little too genuine to be fake. "I presume you have a roommate?"
She tilted her head, a curious flicker of a smile on her face. "I live in the facility," she pointed out. "Does the master security agent who seems to have looked me up really not know my living arrangements" Or are we pretending that you have not looked at my file now?"
"Even a master security agent can't remember everything," he retorted with a wink. "I might be able to arrange for a private kitchen," he told her, his words telling her one thing, but his eyes telling her another.