Chapter Text
Ria stared down the two men as they slid into the car, Spike having called shotgun only a moment before. “That was dumb.” She said curtly, before either had a chance to get a word in.
Nick let out a long groan, flopping down to lay across the back seat. “Tell me about it.” He sighed. “We go from stealing a flash drive to throwing ourselves into a gunfight.”
“Look, they needed help.” Spike argued. “I mean, look at how many cops we saved just by catching the targets they didn’t.”
“Still dumb.” Nick replied in a mirror of Ria’s sentiment.
Spike leaned against the window tiredly as Ria pulled the car out into the street. “Yeah, well you didn’t have to come.” He shot back.
“Like I was going to leave you on your own, Mikey.” Nick replied casually, still lying down.
Ria caught it as she glanced in the rearview mirror. “Come on, sit up.” She ordered. “The last thing we need is to get pulled over for you not wearing a seatbelt.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Nick muttered dismissively, though he dragged himself up and clicked the belt into place. He sighed heavily. “Did you check the drive?” He asked after a long moment.
“Uh huh.” Ria replied. “It checked out. Most of the locations of the storage houses with the kids are on it.”
“Most?” Spike asked, lifting his head to look at her.
“There’s a few I know to be missing.” Ria replied. “They're on our other files but not in the drive.”
“Maybe they’ve been decommissioned?” Nick asked hopefully.
Ria clucked her tongue. “Unlikely.”
“How many are we looking at?” Spike asked.
It was Ria’s turn to sigh. “Across Northern America and Europe? Hundreds.”
“Shit.” Nick breathed out.
“Yep.” Ria replied, the same incredulity coloring her voice.
“How the hell are we going to pull this off?” Spike murmured, more to himself as he kept his gaze locked on the passing snowbanks.
Ria shook her head, making the turn onto a darkened side street. “I don’t know.” She admitted.
“I mean, we can always do what Greer wants us to do.” Nick answered. A second later he barked out a laugh at the ridiculousness of the statement.
Spike couldn’t help but laugh as well. “Yeah, right.” He shot back.
Nick sobered up, taking a deep breath. “Seriously, though. I mean there's four major countries involved in this, we don’t have the manpower to cover them all, even if we just said screw it and each took one.”
Ria glanced at Spike. “You think your people would help?” She asked cautiously.
Spike pulled away from the window, sitting upright as he shot her a tense look. “No.” He said quickly. “I don’t want to involve them in this.”
“I can call on some of my old teams within CSIS, but our best bet might be coordinating with local LEOs.” Ria said softly. “We have a KOSO on Amir but the rest of his people need to be arrested.”
“Do they?” Nick drawled.
“Yes.” Spike replied immediately.
Ria sighed, “There’s hundreds of them, Nick. We can’t kill all of them, it’s just not feasible.”
“How about Interpol?” Spike asked. “Nick, I’m sure you could call in a few favors with them.”
Nick sighed but nodded his head. “Yeah, I can reach out.”
“I can try American Intelligence.” Ria offered. “And the FBI.” She pulled to the side, lining up the car with the curb and turned it off. “Come on, let’s finish this conversation inside. Too damn cold out here.”
Nick made a noise of agreement and hopped out of the car, Spike and Ria following a moment later. They made their way into the seemingly decrepit warehouse. Inside it was much nicer, having been supplied with a few couches and tables. The kitchen was little more than a microwave, an assortment of kitchenware and a knife block spread across various folding tables, but it was enough. Ria had even hung a strand of Christmas lights from the steel beams and they shone brightly over the largest couch. She collapsed onto it with a satisfied groan as she grabbed a blanket that had been cast over the edge and spread it on top of her.
Spike took a seat at the kitchen table, reaching into the cardboard box nearby as he grabbed a bottle of vodka. He took two long sips, grimacing as the alcohol burned at his lip, then set the bottle aside.
“Here.” Nick said, tossing a suture kit at Spike. His expression softened as Spike caught the black bag with one hand, grimacing slightly. “Do you want me to do it?” Nick offered.
Spike shook his head. “I got it.” He unzipped the kit, spilling its contents onto the table. Selecting a curved needle and a small packet of thread, he carefully tore both packages open. He leaned his head to the side and bit the neckline of his shirt, lifted the edge up, then grabbed the still-open bottle of vodka and splashed it over the large gash. He huffed out a sharp breath between the fabric in his teeth, eyes closing tightly for a moment before he reopened them and grabbed the needle and thread. He put the two together, and brought them to his side.
“So Interpol.” Spike started, his voice wavering as he attempted to distract himself from the sharp pain in his side. He swallowed thickly as he pulled the thread taught and came down a second time to pierce his skin with the needle.
“Yeah. We should be able to get them on our side, but we need something to offer them.” Nick said. “I can cash in some favors, but not enough to get the kind of boots on the ground we need.”
“What if we offer one of our targets?” Ria suggested.
Nick hummed for a moment, “Maybe.” He said hesitantly. “It would have to be someone worth having.”
Ria sat up on the couch, pulling a cardboard box out from under the side table. She flipped through the files stacked on top of each other, settling on one in the middle before she pulled it out. “Alarie?” She asked. “He’s known for ties to trafficking groups, half of Europe’s after him.”
“He’ll never talk if he thinks he’s getting a fair trial.” Spike remarked.
Ria scoffed. “Since when are you concerned about being honest with targets- sorry subjects.” She corrected jokingly.
“Yeah, yeah.” Spike muttered, tying off the end of the thread as he sewed the last stitch. “So we don’t tell him.”
Nick nodded. “Works for me. He should be arriving in Canada tomorrow, I can intercept.”
“No, I’ll take him.” Ria said, shaking her head. “You’re too far into the Baron investigation, stick with him. We need to know where Amir’s product is going.”
“You know what you’re looking for with Alarie?” Nick asked as he walked over to the couch and took the man’s file from her. He thumbed through it, briefly familiarizing himself with him.
“Yes.” Ria sighed. “I’ve read all these asshole’s files. He’s got transaction information that’ll tie him to the storage sites.”
“No way he gives them all up.” Spike said shortly. “Nick, can you grab me a bandage?”
“On it.” Nick replied. He headed towards a far table, digging through the stacked files and boxes until he found the right one. He pulled out a few gauze pads and kerlix then made his way back to Spike, passing them off without a word.
“Thanks.” Spike muttered, tearing the packets open with his teeth.
Nick grunted in response, then turned his attention back to Ria. “He doesn’t need to tell us anything, we just need his data drive.”
Ria sighed. “If he’s got everything stored, do we really need him alive?” She asked tiredly. “It’s better for the world if I just shoot him, let’s be honest.”
“Bargaining chip, Ria.” Nick groaned. “Remember?”
Ria made a noncommittal noise, but settled. “Alright so I’ll take Alarie, and you’ll take Baron. Mike, you up for Faraq?” She asked.
Spike tucked the end of the bandage under its stands, having already wrapped it around his torso. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He said. “He should be easy- too confident to think he needs protection.”
“The best kind, overconfident and under-educated.” Nick remarked. “He’s in charge of Amir’s weapon distribution, right?”
Spike nodded. “Yep, and Guns and Gangs has been on him for months. With the head gone, the rest of his operation will be a nice present for them when this is all over.”
“Christmas gift for your buddy there?” Ria asked jokingly, wiggling her eyebrows at Spike.
Spike huffed out a laugh. “Whatever keeps the peace.” He replied. He froze for a moment as the words left his mouth, hand hovering over the garbage bag where he’d reached to throw away the packaging.
“You good?” Nick asked, stepping forward.
Spike let the trash drop from his hand, shaking his head. “Fine.” He said quickly, “Just pulled at the wound.” He sat back up, offering a small smile.
“Alright, so we’ve all got our targets.” Ria said, filling the space Spike’s hesitance had created. “We should go out at the same time, keep anyone from talking to each other.”
“So tomorrow night, when Alarie touches down?” Nick asked.
Spike shook his head. “No, we should let him settle first, get comfortable. When his guard is down, we'll strike.”
“He’s got enemies here, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ria asked.
Spike moved his head back and forth as he pondered the risk versus reward. Nick continued the conversation in his indecisiveness. “That might be better, actually.” Nick said. “If he’s got guys after him, he might be looking for them instead of us. What if we give it a few days instead?”
Ria nodded. “That’s a good point, but it gives them time to talk.”
“How much talking are we expecting, though?” Spike asked. “I mean, Faraq is pretty much isolated anyway with his weapons trade, he only uses Amir to bankroll the operation. Alarie is isolated too, he maintains as little contact as possible to keep himself clean.”
“True.” Nick remarked. “Baron is the only one who is involved with everyone, his drug trade gives him ears all over.”
“So we take him first.” Ria said. “Do him tomorrow, and Faraq and Alaire together once we let him sweat for a bit. In the meantime we work on expanding our contacts.”
“That’ll be good.” Spike said. He looked to Nick, “After you take Baron, you can ship out to the UK and start talks with Interpol while Ria and I game plan for Alarie and Faraq.”
“They might not be willing to do too much collaboration without Alarie in their hands.” Nick said hesitantly.
“We’ll get him.” Ria said firmly. “Have them look at our track record. We don’t make promises we won’t keep.”
“We can’t let it go for too long, though.” Spike said lowly. “If Greer catches wind of what we’re doing…” He trailed off, allowing the permeating silence to carry the unspoken threat looming over their heads.
“I know.” Ria said. “We’ll give it a few days, let Alarie get situated, and then we’ll get moving.”
“Alright.” Spike agreed.
Nick blew out a heavy breath, walking past Spike to grab a bottle of water and a bag of chips. “Sounds like a plan. Now that we’ve got that figured out- I’m going to bed.”
Ria raised her eyebrows at his selection. The air was still heavy with the danger hanging over them, but she couldn’t let the moment of levity drift past. “Dinner of champions?” She joked.
Nick laughed mockingly, falling into her misdirection. “Well you ate all the pizza, it’s not like we have a lot of options.”
“Yeah.” Ria sighed. “Sorry. I was hungry.”
“I’ll survive.” Nick said shortly, though his eyes held a twinkle of humor. He tousled her hair as he walked behind the couch, laughing when she pushed him away, and disappeared to the back rooms where they’d set up some mattresses on the floor.
Ria looked back at Spike, her grin fading as Nick left the room. “You okay?” She asked softly.
Spike’s head shot back up to look at her. “Yeah I’m fine.” He answered quickly.
“Mike.” Ria sighed. “Come on, it’s me. I know seeing your old team had to be hard.”
Spike shook his head. “It’s not something you have to worry about.”
“I worry because it’s you.” Ria replied.
Spike exhaled sharply. He pushed himself up from the chair and grabbed a bottle of water for himself. “You want one?” He offered lamely.
“Sure.” Ria replied. Spike grabbed a second one and made his way over to her, sitting heavily on the opposite end. He passed the bottle down, arm falling weakly onto the couch once it left his hand.
“You sure you're okay?” Ria pressed.
“They keep offering to help.” Spike muttered. “After everything, they still want to help me.”
“They care about you.” Ria said gently. “I mean it’s been ten years since the four- three of us worked together, and you and Nick still dropped everything to come back. Maybe it’s the same with them. They seem like good people.”
“They are.” Spike said gently, a wistful smile pulling at his lips. He leaned his head back against the puffy fabric of the couch, closing his eyes as he exhaled deeply.
“So maybe you should let them in?” Ria offered hesitantly.
Spike worried his lower lip, opening his eyes to look sidelong at her as he shook his head. “We’re in enough trouble, going against Greer like this. He’ll find out eventually. I don’t want them involved when he does.”
“I get what you’re saying.” Ria agreed. “It’s complicated by the fact that they know you, that makes it harder to clean up if this goes south. But you need to think about this rationally, they could be useful when we bring Amir’s operation down.”
Spike sighed. “I know. Rationally, I get it. But I can’t do that to them. I mean, God only knows what Greer’s going to do to us, but he could have them fired. I can’t take that away from them. They live for this job.”
“If we don’t get help, we might not live through this.” Ria said, voice barely above a whisper. “Do you really think we can do this on our own?”
Spike sighed again, sitting up and leaning his arms against his legs. He dropped his head into his hands, dragging his fingers through his hair roughly. “I don’t know.” He admitted. “Let’s see what we get from the new targets. Get Interpol and the FBI on our side. We’ll take it from there.”
“Okay.” Ria relented. She slid closer, putting a warm hand on his back. “I’m going to go to bed. Don’t stay up too late. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.”
Spike nodded as she walked away, the ghost of her hand lingering where it had brought some measure of familiar comfort.