Ch. 3 - Crime Scene

"So you're basically saying I'll have about... two seconds to see if there is any outright danger on the other side?" Lioness calculated her odds. She didn't like it.
"Moment of surprise unfortunately works both ways. If we want it on our side, we can't have that portal open too long before we go through," Osprey nodded, checking her kit for about millionth time.
"And Tiger is still..."
"...as far as I can tell, yes."
"Well, I guess - here goes nothing, as they say."
Osprey concentrated. A nicely shimmering blue portal blinked into existence, and Lioness frowned. She couldn't really feel much from the other side before her partner said: "Go!", except there was a threat.
They jumped through, Osprey with a gun in hand, Lioness with her eyes closed, going by empathy. Each one to a different side of the portal, dividing the targets.
*Pain* she projected before her feet even touched the ground on the other side. She took care to shield Risa from it. Tiger... wasn't so lucky.
As her eyes sprung open.
Osprey standing with her hands in front of her, a non-threatening gesture of compliance. Her gun on the ground.
Tiger, on his knees, apparently originally lunging for Risa.
Lioness dropped her emotional beam and the soldier snapped up, panting, reaching for his gun.
"Easy, Tiger. We're not the enemy, but I *will* defend myself," Lioness's voice was casual, almost conversational, but she was staring the Sec Chief down.
His wild expression slowly smoothed into a gruff but calm stone-like mask.
"I hate empaths," he growled.
"Join the club," Maddie sighed, shaking her head.
"You cannot be here," Tiger continued, uncharacteristically chatty. "Nobody should be here."
It was Maddie's turn to shudder with the echo of Swan's last words. Fortunately Dwayne was focusing on Risa.
"Well, we could portal here. Safely and securely. Thanks to you," Osprey's matter-of-fact, and yet guarded tone was everything but apologetic.
Tiger looked torn between anger, relief... and pain.
He didn't say more, just turned his back on the two women, looking instead at the carnage in the relatively small room.
Lioness finally allowed herself to fully take in her surroundings too. Eight people from Sec 1 lay on the blood soaked floor. Dead.
Tiger moved around, checking each one in turn, taking dogtags off their necks. Lioness decided to follow, whispering prayers of various last rites for those who believed. Dwayne gave her a nod of approval.
Osprey didn't look comfortable, and after a quick moment of paying silent respects started examining the room itself.
"They left through a portal," she announced, as soon as her colleagues were done with their somber duty. "But they didn't use one to get in...?"
She turned it half into a question.
"How would you know that?" Tiger was back to being suspicious.
"Portals. It's my thing," Osprey shrugged.
"They did leave through one alright. But they also... got in through one. Part of them, anyway. They created a diversion. Some came through the door, kinda friendly like. Then that dang portal opened behind us."
Osprey frowned and looked in the direction opposite the door - which, Lioness noticed, were closed, and probably locked or barred. Why else would Tiger be staying in here so long? He didn't look physically hurt - at least not too badly. Most of the blood on his clothes was not his. She crossed to the door to make sure, and to her surprise they opened at first try, without resistance. She turned to Tiger.
"The door is unlocked," she stated neutrally. His emotions flashed with guilt, before falling back into barely suppressed anger. He didn't respond.
"Surely you didn't take code OMEGA to literally mean do not move."
"Some of are not in the habit of *interpreting* orders to suit them, Lioness."
She shook her head.
"Right. You didn't need saving. Get it."
"Gotcha!" Osprey exclaimed suddenly from the other side of the room. "Oh, this guy is good... The trace is barely there. And it's unreadable."
Her disappointment and intrigue were both clearly palpable.
"Um," she turned as she became aware of the stand-off between the two other agents. "Yeah, their portalist is really good."
They all stood for a moment, looking at each other, none of them quite sure what to do next. Neither of them was eager to mention the elephant in the room.
"The portal out of here," Risa began, possibly more to break the silence than anything. "Now, that's a different story. I can open that one again. Probably."
"No," Tiger shook his head. "No more of this. We follow orders. Go to ground, wait for..."
"...other orders?" Maddie supplied gently. "But Osprey has a point, we can't stay *here*. Whoever did this," she indicated the whole room, "might be keeping tabs on this place."
"Which is another reason not to mess with whatever magical nonsense they left behind," Tiger growled, evidently getting more frustrated by the minute.
"But..." Osprey obviously wanted to argue, eventhough she knew she should not.
"Protocol, Osprey."
Lioness closed her eyes, suddenly bone tired. She took a few steps towards where Osprey found the portal, and stopped. She bent to the ground, her fingers running over the hardwood floor. Her fingertips smeared with blood, she gasped as she found what she was subconsciously looking for. An echo. Swan was most definitely alive when they took her.
"Lioness, let's go."
Tiger's voice was impatient at best.
"We need to get ourselves a place to stay."
"Sure, let me just..." she picked herself up, her mind swimming. They all moved to the door, Osprey still looking mildly defiant, and Tiger very determined. Lioness straggling, casting glances around. They couldn't just leave the scene like this, there was no clean up crew this time.
As they stepped into the corridor, looking for signs that they are being watched, Maddie closed the door and pulled a bit of chalk from her hip bag. Drawing a few lines around the threshold and a few more on the door frame, she muttered a quick spell. The pattern flashed as it sealed.
She then turned and followed the other two agents.
"Maybe lose the jacket, Tiger," Osprey was eyeing the man. "Bloodstains are not exactly inconspicuous."
The soldier almost automatically shrugged out of the garment and tossed it into a nearest trash can.
The streets of the city were far from deserted, despite the late (or early) hour of night. Fortunately New Year's was off-season in Thessaloniki, so they were able to get a room in a small hotel nearby, with a very efficient night manager.