Jacob Hinton let out a sigh of relief. After his confrontation with the Legion, he was ready for a nice long nap. He'd managed to escape them by ducking into a nearby store and hiding in the back. Good thing Angela had chosen a location near one of their fronts.
Now he had to report to the woman herself. The Angel of Death had little tolerance for failure, but at least he'd managed to keep them away from the real operation. Really, his debut had just been to test the Legion's response. Mostly verifying Angela's assumptions.
True, only two Legion members had responded. He'd only had to deal with two of them, as opposed to all...how many were there now?
Too many.
For now, he waited for the Angel. It took about fifteen minutes before she came in, glasses and good booze in hand.
"Jacob," she said, her voice soft and powerful. She took a seat opposite him and set the glasses on the table.
"I'm back. Mostly in one piece." Jacob looked down at his left side, which had needed treatment for burns. Now patches of his body were covered in gauze and ointment.
"I hear." Angela poured a glass for each of them, then took hers in hand and sat back. She looked like a queen. No, she was a queen.
"Two came after me. The small one and one called Hot Rod. I believe he throws fire around."
"Hence the burns."
"Partially. Some of the lasers gave me some nasty wounds too. But I won't regale you with that."
"I don't need it. Did you win?"
"Not a chance. I'm still learning how to use these." Jacob took a sip of his drink as he showed off his chains - lithe, silver cords that danced to whatever tune he could think of.
"Unfortunate. At least you made it out relatively safely and Alessia's team was able to do their job without any trouble. Dominick Morton is dead."
"About time. He caused us enough trouble."
"Really, the military should learn to keep their noses where they belong. I do so despise having to dispose of them."
Jacob laughed at the expression on Angela's face. Hating to dispose of them was a total lie. She got a kick out of the chase, loved coming up with the plans to weave through their victim's protection. And, though she took a bit more of a backstage role now, she enjoyed watching the life fade from a person's body.
"Now. I hear only two of them came at you, yes?"
"Correct. I didn't hear them calling for other reinforcements either."
"So the Legion has shifts. If we can just piece that together, we can better deal with them. And, as far as I can tell, only two of them are on active duty at a time."
"How complete is your mock-up?"
"Not as complete as I'd like. We haven't got good data on the hours between two and six a.m. From six a.m. onwards, we have consistent Legion sightings, mostly Lightning and Rose."
"There's a sick part of me that wants to choke that little flower boy to death," Jacob admitted with a chuckle.
"I'd like to see that fight as well. If only there was a good way to keep Lightning out of it." Angela sighed at her empty glass and refilled it.
"Well, are you going to start playing your cards now?"
"In time. Before we start playing them regularly, I'd like to take out that miserable pest Jase. That Mist girl looks suspiciously like his pet child."
"Right. The one he kept from us."
"I doubt I'll get to, but I would love to see the look on his face when he realizes she's dead. Oh, I know. Let's capture him, and kill her as she comes to save him."
"That loyal little pet would definitely jump at that bait." Jacob laughed.
"I wish our attempts to locate them weren't being blocked at every opportunity," Angela sighed. "Letting Niko walk away was a mistake. I should have burned a hole in his temple." She reached for the raygun at her hip and fidgeted with it for a bit.
"Honestly, what's so good about little Jasey?" Jacob scoffed. "He got soft and pathetic after he picked up that kid."
"Really, if he was taking her in to protect her, he should have thought about what kind of work he was in. Of course she'd end up killing at some point." Angela rolled her eyes.
Silence fell for a moment, then Jacob spoke again.
"What about Team Chaos?"
"What about them?" Angela asked with a laugh. "We let them run free until they start actively messing with us. As things stand, they offer us more benefits than downsides. With the Legion distracted by them, we can move freely."
"Any plans for Amias and Rayne?" Angela's face twisted in disgust.
"Find them. Bring them to me. Then maybe I'll borrow one of your chains. Which one do I despise more...?" She fell into thought with a sigh as she swirled the last of her drink.
Jacob's glass was empty, but he didn't dare mention it. You didn't get anything from the Angel's personal collection without her benevolence. Said benevolence being a very limited commodity.
"I guess I'd strangle Rayne while Amias watches. Then, just as she's on the brink of death, I'll release her and make her watch me choke Amias. That way I get to watch both of them despair." Angela finished her second drink.
Jacob nodded at her plan.
"Now, another drink?" she asked, filling up her own glass. Jacob offered her his and she filled it halfway. More than he'd thought he was getting when she'd walked into the room, so he couldn't complain.
"Do we know where Amias and Rayne are?"
"Oh, they won't be too hard to find. Niko's one thing, but most people can't cover their tracks that well. Amir and Nathanael will work on it once they have some spare time. But to think both of them would end up with Miracles..." Angela frowned in thoughts as she took another sip.
"Anytime you need me, just send me out. It won't take much for these to heal."
Jacob was bluffing. The burns hurt like hell, but being useless to Angela was worse than being dead.
"Thanks, but I think you'll have good time to recover. I'm thinking of sending one or two others to test the situation. Speaking of, you're dismissed."
Jacob nodded, finished his drink in one big swig - that stuff was more precious than its weight in cash - and left. Angela didn't say anything more, and he didn't look back.
There was no need to.
