Chapter Text
Time really was an anomaly. When you were a child, you never really believed adults when they said life would speed by as you got older. How could you when all your childhood worries really came down to waking up on time for school, homework, and counting down the days until summer break? But now when you look back, you realize you took it all for granted.
After you graduated high school as a naive fresh adult, you went off to college to earn a degree in computer science. Four long and grueling years later, filled with punishing professors, weirdo dorm mates, and late night study sessions, you were finally free to the world.
The couple years after college weren't easy on you either, much to your dismay. You knew life wasn't gonna be a piece of cake, you had already experienced some of that at university, but the real world was much harsher than you imagined. Getting a job that fit your degree wasn't as smooth as you anticipated, and you ended up having to work a few odd jobs in between.
Things weren’t looking up for you, until one day luck finally had your side. ‘Information Security Analyst’ was the title you read in the jobs column in the daily newspaper. The description was pretty vague with just a brief list of typical duties and its requirements, but there was no company name, only a phone number. You didn't meet every requirement on that list, mainly in the experience category, but this was just something you couldn't pass up.
You called that number and over the next few weeks you had gone through several over the phone interviews with the most monotone humans you had ever encountered. Finally, after playing phone tag for weeks, you were given an address to show up to for a skills test. Up to this point you still had no idea what exactly the company was, but you had begun to assume it had to be something within the government.
The skills test consisted of a twenty page test and more importantly, a hands on test to repair and secure a laptop. You were there for hours, the written test was grueling and you felt like it would never end. But once they set the laptop in front of you, it was gametime. After a considerably short time, you had that machine working in tip top shape, more efficiently than your competition it seemed.
Needless to say, you got the job.
Everything from there was a total blur. You found out that you were right about it being a government job, ‘Division of Security Operations’ or D.S.O for short. You were given a briefing on what the agency was and what their goal was, it was hard for you to swallow at first and for a moment you wondered if you even wanted the position. But at that point there was no turning back, you had already signed several documents regarding confidentiality and legal contracts that binded your service to the D.S.O for years.
That was all two years ago, and now that you were in your mid twenties, everything before had felt like a distant memory. High school, college, your time of struggle in between. Even though in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that long ago, the person you had been then was completely different from the person you were now.
Being a security analyst, you didn't really see the combative side of the D.S.O, your job wasn't going out and fighting B.O.W's or assisting agents over comms. But your role was still crucial for the organization's functionality, ensuring that the operating systems and servers remained safe and secure for all company assets.
Your days mostly consisted of monitoring for breaches, installing firewalls, and encrypting data. You enjoyed the work for the most part, but it was certainly time consuming. Having a social life was a challenge at best, but somehow you managed to balance work and your personal life fairly well considering.
About six months into working at the D.S.O is when you met Daniel Mullins. He was a field agent that had bumped into you at the cafeteria, causing you to spill soup all over your button down. He was apologetic and sweet, immediately rushing to grab napkins to help you clean up. You thought he was decent looking, with dark brown hair that was ruffled, scruffy beard, and shining green eyes. And the way he looked at you made it pretty obvious the attraction was mutual.
A few weeks later you and Daniel began dating. For a while everything was great, you and him even moved together after about four months. The both of you fit well together, and knowing the line of work you both were in made understanding time apart easy. You didn't mind that he had to go on missions here and there, and he didn't seem to mind when you had to stay late to finish up your work.
But as time went on something in him grew distant. He began to talk to you less, stopped visiting your office daily, and he took you on less dates. His initial charm had also begun to fade, going from a humorous playfulness to a cold dryness that could chill even the warmest of days. Now instead of an apartment full of laughs and joy, most of your nights with him were spent with arguments and headaches.
It was just another seemingly normal day in the office, you were performing your daily monitors when the phone rang. You looked at the extension and furrowed your brows. ‘HUNNIGAN, INGRID’ popped up on the caller ID. It wasn't a name you were familiar with, but you figured it was probably to do with site access or something like that so you picked up the phone and answered with your name.
She greeted you. “This is Ingrid Hunnigan with the intelligence division.” She sounded very professional in the way she talked, yet you could detect the slightest hint of urgency in her tone. “I'm having trouble reaching my field agent and I believe my computer might be compromised.”
Well damn, rarely did you ever get a call about a potential breach. You were pretty good about watching for red flags in the system, and if there was a breach you should've gotten a notification. If it really was a breach, it meant that whatever did make it through was bound to be nasty. The best case scenario you hoped for was it to just be a simple computer glitch.
Nonetheless you didn't downplay Ingrid's concern, swapping to put your headset on so you could be hands free as you opened your programs. “Okay Ingrid,” you said, “can you give me the number that’s posted on your machine? I'm gonna see if I can remotely take control to see what you see.”
“Yeah of course, one moment.” You could hear her on the other line scooting around in her chair. After a brief pause she was able to list off the computer number and you were able to type it into your program. Three little dots orbited in a circle on the middle of your screen, informing you that it was in fact loading which was a good sign. If you could remotely tap into her system it meant that it wasn't completely locked out.
After what felt like ages of watching the little dots carousel around, a new screen opened revealing Ingrid's computer. “Alright, I was able to access your system.” You affirmed her, letting her know that you were still there. “You should see your cursor moving as I move my mouse. I'm gonna have to take a deep dive into your system.”
“Do what you gotta do.” You appreciated her understanding. Usually whenever you had to tap people's computers, they would get defensive, worried about what you might see on their systems. By this point in your career you had seen it all. Some people would try and argue with you about confidentiality and privacy, but unfortunately for them you did in fact have a decently high clearance being in system security and all.
Looking at her screen and the different programs she had open, you noticed that all of them were either frozen or had error messages. You questioned her about what those tabs were and what they were for. Some were databases, maps, websites, but those she seemed less concerned about. For Ingrid, her most valuable tabs were the communication portal and onsite cameras that she had accessed for her agents mission.
“I'm not sure what your capabilities are,” she pressed “but if you are able to get anything up at all please ensure it's one of those. I desperately need to make contact with my agent, it's been hours since our last check in.”
“Hours?” You asked as you began to browse through the security coding. “When did you suspect you lost everything?”
“I was doing some research for a potential lead for our case when the screens started glitching out. Next thing I knew everything was frozen and when I tried to reach my agent there was nothing.”
You hummed in acknowledgment. Minutes passed as you continued your search through long stretches of code that scrolled by, and you could practically feel Ingrid's anxiety on the other line. Typing command after command, you dug as deep into her system as you could, but you were starting to lose confidence on what more you could do from just your office. At this point, you were gonna have to physically check the computer, which meant having her whole system brought down to you… during an active mission with an agent in the field. That wasn't optimal at all.
A defeated sigh escaped from you. “Unfortunately I fear this is a lot more complex than I thought.” You stated. “The only way for me to be able to dig any deeper into this would be to have your whole computer sent down to my office so I can run proper scans.”
Immediately you were met with protest. “No no no.” Ingrid's voice was now full of panic. “That won't work at all, I need this fixed asap.” She wasn't being rude, but she was understandably concerned about her mission. “More importantly, I need to make contact with my agent.”
At that moment an idea flicked into your mind. It was a risky one for sure, one you were certainly not authorized to perform, something that could cost you your job if it got out. But this seemed like the kind of situation that warranted a bit of rule breaking, no, rule bending. That's a better way of putting it. After all, this was a matter of safety for not only the company, but for the field agent.
You toyed with the idea a little more in your head before speaking up, this time in a hushed tone. “Okay Ingrid, listen…” You tossed off your headset and picked up the handheld, pressing the mic close to your mouth as you whispered into the line. “I can maybe help you, but it's gotta be completely off the record and you have to trust me.”
The other side of the line was quiet for a moment before she finally replied. “Okay, what do you need?”
“I need the name and comms number of your agent.” Again, this was incredibly risky and it violated many company procedures. There was a very strict policy on who was able to contact agents on active duty, and you were certainly nowhere on that list.
But nonetheless, Ingrid didn't question you one bit, as if she already knew your intentions. “Agent Kennedy, first name Leon.” You quickly pulled out a pen and paper and wrote the name, followed by the ten digit comms number that she read out.
You looked down at your scribbles and realized that name looked familiar, why though? There wasn't any time to dwell on it. “Alright, I'm gonna call you back and I'll let you know if I was successful or not.” You explained. There was already going to be a record of this phone call and you didn't want it to be any more incriminating than it already was. Luckily you were decent friends with someone in record keeping that would be able to help you expunge this conversation.
Ingrid only protested slightly before coming to an understanding. “He might be weary of you at first.” She warned. “Tell him that ‘roost’ is compromised and ‘condor one’ will have to continue on blind. Those were previous code names we used for our last mission. He'll know to trust you then.”
After acknowledging her, you hung up your phone and opened the comms program on your screen. Luckily, being in system security meant that you had access to all web apps throughout the agency, so you wouldn't raise any flags for opening said app. You quickly swapped your headset connection from your phone to your computer as you typed in the number.
A feeling of hesitation stopped you from immediately pressing ‘connect.’ Your chest tightened as anxiety tried to hold you back, but you had already given Ingrid hope and you couldn’t back out now. Your index finger pressed down the left click on your mouse and the screen shifted, now showing a soundbar and a large box off to the side that you assumed was for body cam footage.
You heard the line ring and that’s when the instant feeling of regret burned into your skin. All possibilities ran through your mind, losing your job, being interrogated, going to jail. Nerves ate away at you as the ringing continued on and a new thought crept in to cause you more worry. What if Agent Kennedy didn't answer?
Before you could dwell too much on that thought, a chime rang through your speakers and the video box off to the side turned black with an error message. As you were thinking of how to introduce yourself, the man on the other line was quick to beat the silence.
“Who is this?” The soundbar flared as he spoke, his tone harsh and straight to the point. “State your business, now.”
Your brain was drawing a total blank on what to say, but you knew you had to at least say something or else he would hang up. “Umm-” You mentally cursed yourself for sounding like a child whose parents forced them to order their own meal for the first time. “Is this Agent Kennedy?” You actually facepalmed at how stupid you sounded. Thank God you didn't have a webcam so he couldn't see your embarrassment.
“Answer my questions first.” Clearly he was better at this than you.
You gave him your name. “I-I'm with the D.S.O too, I-I'm contacting you on behalf o-of your intelligence officer, Ingrid Hunnigan.” Your nerves had you stuttering now, hands flexing repeatedly to ease their shaking.
He huffed on the other line. “How can I be so sure of that? For all I know you could be with all the rest of these clowns.”
You weren't sure what ‘clowns’ he was referring to but they clearly weren't his friends. “R-Roost is compromised.” You blurted out. “You're going in blind, uhhh…” Fuck what did Ingrid say his code was? Something with a bird… oh right! “Condor one!” Even though you were proud of yourself for relaying the message, you realized that it might not have sounded very convincing.
Silence echoed through your headset, the soundbar not even twitching. At first you were worried he might disconnect, but to your relief he spoke up. “Who did you say you were again?”
Giving him your full name once again, you began to explain a little more in depth. “I work in systems security, your intelligence officer called me with concerns that her computer might have been hacked. She couldn't reach you at all and was worried about your status.”
“Hunnigan, worried about me?” He laughed. “How cute of her. Well lady you got good timing that's for sure, reached out just in time for me to need an extract.”
“Oh umm-” You weren't really sure how to go about that, but he interrupted you with a small chuckle.
“Relax, I don't expect you to do it yourself.” His voice was laced with amusement as if he sensed your heart rate over the line. “I'll give you coordinates to give to Hunnigan, she'll know where to go from there.”
Once again you scrambled for your notepad and jotted down the numbers as he read them off. “Alright Agent Kennedy, I'll get these directly to Ingrid. Sorry for the confusion. Have a good day.” You wanted to grab your pen and poke your eyes out. Who the fuck tells an agent in a hellzone to ‘have a good day’ like he’s just out buying groceries?
“Hey, it's really no problem. Hope your day is better than mine.” He chuckled again and you felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “Oh and by the way, call me Leon.”