The mood hanging over the base in the days since the failed church attack had been a particularly grim one. Over half of the force had been apprehended by the police, and a fair number injured. It remained to be seen just how much information would be wrung out of the captured, but the general consensus was rather pessimistic. It was a matter of when, not if, the police would be kicking down their door.

Jax tried his hardest to raise everyone's spirits, assuring them that the failure wasn't their fault, that the captured were loyal and wouldn't say a word to the police, that, even in the small, small chance of an attack, their defenses would hold. At first, his words fell on deaf ears, everyone continuing to mope as usual, but after a few days of constant enthusiasm, his positivity made a dent.

Madira was furious. She stormed around the base, glowering at everyone and everything. Conversations fell silent when she walked into a room, and crowds parted to make way for her. Fearful of incurring her wrath, the cultists tiptoed around Madira.

Gale, on the other hand, was unfazed by the whole debacle. She strolled around, easygoing as ever, not even flinching whenever Madira snapped at her, which happened quite frequently. Their encounters were hardly friendly, but, after a number of days, people ceased to watch them argue; it had become common.

Adrian had different matters to worry about. His contemplations on the church incident had been abruptly halted the night before, when Alina delivered him news of an attack on the palace. They'd had an extended discussion on how it could of happened--a discussion, which, despite the subject matter, was rather enjoyable--and since then, Adrian couldn't tear his thoughts from it.

He leaned against the wall of the main lounge, barely seeing the small groups of cultists chatting. Once again his mind returned to the palace attack, and the same questions raced through his head--who? Why? How? He hadn't heard anything about it--not even a whisper. But, perhaps, in the chaos following the failure, there was little chance for rumors to spread.

"Erik."

It took a few moments for Adrian to react to the name. He turned his head reluctantly, having recognized the voice. "Yes, Miss Gale?"

Gale stepped forward, uncomfortably close, and was silent for a few long moments. Her face was still and serious, but the corner of her mouth twitched up into a brief smile--or, perhaps, a smirk--and her gray eyes glittered in excitement.

Disturbed, Adrian took a step back. "What is it?"

"Would you come with me, Erik?" she asked with a quick smile. She dropped her voice and leaned in. "I want to talk with you. Just a few questions."

Adrian's heart skipped and set off at a frantic tempo, but he kept his face a mask. Whatever she wanted, it couldn't be good. Quick, an excuse, an excuse. "I--I'm sorry, but I can't--"

"No, no," cut in Gale, shaking her head. "It'll be quick. Come with me." It was a command. Her hand shot out and seized Adrian's wrist in an iron grip. She practically dragged him along, staying along the wall and avoiding the cultists. They entered the door to a small side room, practically unfurnished aside from a few chairs and a lamp.

Gale turned on the lamp, shut the door behind them, then locked it.

Adrian's heartbeat, if possible, accelerated, a quick and frantic drumming in his ears.

Gale spun around, leaned against the door, and crossed her arms. Out of the crowded main room, her serious expression had vanished, a full smirk spread across her face. She stared down Adrian with smug eyes.

"So, Erik," she started, drawing out each word, "could you tell me--who that lady you met with last night?"
Shit. She saw Alina. His mind kicked into overdrive, struggling to formulate a reasonable answer before his silence proved his guilt. It's no use to deny a meeting at this point, so-- "A relative. A cousin. From out of town. She happened to run into me as I was heading home, and we chatted for a bit." He kept his face absolutely still, planning his next few responses even as he spoke.

"Is that so?" Gale raised an eyebrow and her smirk deepend, as if she found his excuse laughable. "Tell me, Erik--why was your cousin glowing?" She delivered the question with a terrible sense of finality, likely assuming that particular fact was damning.

Perhaps it was. Even so, he wasn't going down so easily. "Little light-up trinkets. She likes to collect them. Jewelry, little charms, those sorts of things. When she wears them all at once, it's a bit ridiculous, isn't it?" His hands were growing sweaty. He swallowed and wiped them on the sides of his jacket.

"Oh. How curious." Gale tilted her head, the smirk not gone from her face. "Well then, explain to me--what were you talking about?"

An open-ended question--depending on how he answered, Adrian could doom himself there and then. Just how much had she heard? "Excuse my rudeness, Miss Gale, but our private conversation is none of your business."

"Well, I apologize, but, you see..." Gale pushed herself off the door and stalked over to Adrian, eyeing him like a predator watching its prey. "...I happened to hear a little bit of your conversation. Could you tell me why you were discussing an attack launched by a separate branch of the organization--one that only Jax, Madira, and me were informed of?"

Adrian bit the inside of his cheek. How am I supposed to talk my way out of this? "There was an attack?" He lifted his eyebrows and feigned surprise. "I hadn't heard. My cousin and I were merely discussing the events of a book we've both read."

Gale snickered. They both knew Adrian was cornered. She circled Adrian, a shark preparing to strike. "What a coincidence. The events of this book line up almost perfectly with reality." She ceased her pacing and stood right in front of Adrian, making unwavering eye contact. "Erik, I'm certain that neither I nor Madira nor Jax have leaked the details of the attack. Of course, the only others ones who would have witnessed it is the base that attacked--which is hundreds of miles away, mind you--and the angels who were attacked.

"Who are you working for, Erik?"

This is it. I'm done for. She's found me out. A wave of panic almost swept Adrian off his feet, there and then. There was no way he could get out of this, but if he confessed his guilt, would she shoot him down on the spot? His eyes flicked to the pistol at her hip--he couldn't die here. Lie your way to safety.

A rush of adrenaline sent his mind into a whirl, his heart speeding, but he bit his cheek again and forced all of it down. Stay calm. Stay calm. He narrowed his eyes in mock indignation and snapped, "What are you accusing me of?"

"You're a spy, Erik!" declared Gale, grinning. Her eyes glinted. "I already know, but say it for yourself--who are you working for?"

"Nobody!" spat Adrian, channeling a bit of his inner panic to put more passion in his words. "How could you even say that? I've been entirely loyal these last few weeks--what makes you think that?"

"Oh, plenty," said Gale darkly. Her smirk was fading--perhaps the joy of the hunt was muffled when Adrian didn't crack and fess up immediately. She narrowed her eyes. "First of all--you're far too interested in the inner workings of this organization."

"Is it wrong for me to be interested?!"

"Oh, it is!" exclaimed Gale. With a strangled laugh, she started her pacing again, back and forth in front of Adrian. "You know, most of the people who join this organization--they aren't interested in how this works. All they're interested in is revenge--I don't care if Jax dresses it up all pretty, all it is is simple revenge--they couldn't care less about the other branches, the leadership system, the magic. They're simple, bitter people who can't stomach misfortune, so they have to kick and scream and throw a fit instead.

"And some people? They don't even care about revenge--they just want to see the world burn, just want to see suffering. They don't care about how power is doled out, how many members are in each branch. But you do--abnormally so. Anytime you start a conversation, you're asking about something--something that would be useful information to know if you were, say, trying to take this organization down."

Adrian's stomach turned. He'd been too obvious. He let a tone of desperation bleed into his tone. "I swear, I'm not working against you! I just wanted--"

"Second, your behavior." Gale continued talking, pacing, ignoring Adrian's protests. "Don't think I haven't noticed. You barely say a word, show any sort of emotion. And, sure, on it's own, that'd be fine--some people are like that. But you"--she turned on her heel and pointed at Adrian--"completely contradict yourself. Most of the time, you're as emotional as a statue.

"But whenever you ask anyone about some information about the organization, you're all smiles! A completely different person. And it's only when you ask about the organization. Whenever I start talking to you, you look bored out of your mind. You're two-faced, Erik Minton, and I know why."

"That's because I'm interested in the organization!" protested Adrian in his best imitation of indignation. "You--"

"There! There it is!" Gale turned on him, suddenly extremely smug again. Her face broke into a wide grin, and her eyes shone with victory. "You're doing it again! Acting all angry, faking it so you can worm your way out of the situation!" She leaned in, still smirking. "You can drop the act. Nothing can save you now."

Adrian threw his hands out. "I'm saying that I'm not--"

"Stop," repeated Gale, dropping her voice. "I'm sick of it."
His eyes once again flicked to her gun, and he let his face fall flat.

"That's better." Gale withdrew and smiled, the picture of nonchalance. She put a hand on her hip and continued talking "So, third. The church. You were relieved to get rid of the debris. Clearly you--"

"Gale." The church. She was going to accuse him of acting suspicious at the church. Adrian stopped formulating excuses; he was done with running. At this point, there was only one thing left to do: fire back. His voice was quiet, but firm. "You tipped off the police, didn't you?"

Gale froze, the smirk gone from her face. She crossed her arms and angled her body away from Adrian. "Now," she said, the words clipped, "what makes you think that?"

"I was by the room we entered through the entire time," said Adrian with increasing confidence. "You were the only one else to go in and out. You were gone for quite a while--more than enough time to contact the police." Though he wasn't one to revel in someone else's discomfort, it was still rather satisfying to see the tables turn. With a touch of smugness, he added, "Maybe it's me who should be questioning your loyalty, Gale."

"Hm." Gale licked her lips and frowned at Adrian, looking him over, gauging him. She didn't seem particularly troubled by the accusation, merely intrigued. Eventually she shrugged and let her arms drop to the side. "Well, you're not wrong." Then, with a quick grin: "Perhaps you do have a reason to be here."

"You--what?" It was Adrian's turn to freeze. Had she just admitted it? What was her goal?
"Even so," continued Gale, with the casual demeanor of someone chatting about some trite event in their day, "you've still got a lot of work to do. Infiltration is tricky work." She placed a hand on Adrian's shoulder and guided him, Adrian too stunned to resist, to the back of the room. She leaned against the wall. "You could do with a few pointers from a professional." She grinned at him.

"E-excuse me?" stammered Adrian, finally finding his voice. "What are you talking about?" The question was a silly one; he'd put together the pieces. "Who are you working for?"

Gale clapped her hands together. "There you go! I'd figured you were a smart boy. We're in a similar situation, so, please, don't be scared to share any information."

"Who are you working for?" repeated Adrian, unable to form any other question. It would be just his luck to thik he found an ally, only to discover she was a member of some other murderous cult. But her being an infiltrator wasn't even concrete--it could all be a guise to lure him into a trap. He couldn't let down his guard yet.

"Oh, you're curious?" Gale nodded and smirked, as if she got asked this on a daily basis by doting fans. "Let me tell you. She fished around in her pockets, and chatted as she did so. "Erik, you're talking to an elite. Only the finest in skills and stealth could be chosen for a high risk mission like this--and, even among the elite, I'm the finest."

She found what she was looking for and yanked it out of her pocket. "I'm an officer. The police force sent me in here in hopes of being able to take it down from the inside. Real name's Jay Falk." She held up the item--or, items--a police badge and an ID.

Adrian took the items from Gale, turning them over in his hands. It was a pointless action--how would he know if they were authentic--but he still needed to touch them, feel them, make sure they weren't some illusion. Adrian handed them back.

Gale pocketed them, chatting casually. "Of course, our main issue at the time was the church burnings--we weren't aware they were slaughtering angels. I've tried to tell the others about all this magic and whatnot, but they think I'm insane and offer 'logical' solutions. I've stopped trying, really--I'm a bit worried they'll deem me unfit to continue the job and have me replaced. And, of course--"she let out a self-assuring chuckle--"they'd be fools to trust anyone else on this mission.

"You know, when I first suspected you, I was insulted!" She placed a hand on her chest and stared at Adrian with mock indignation. "I thought you'd been sent to replace me--part of some down-low plot to get me out of here. And replaced by a teenager, no less! Could there be no greater insult?

"But now," she continued, nodding, "I'm convinced you're not employed by any earthly organization at all." Her voice dropped as she said it, drawing out the words with a touch of wonder. "Tell me, Erik, am I right?"

Adrian hesitated. The badge and ID definitely looked authentic, and why else would she tip of the cops if not to harm the organization? He was fairly sure it wasn't just a ploy to win his trust--she seemed genuinely caught off guard when he threw out the accusation. And he couldn't deny the idea of sharing the burden with someone was a relief; just the thought was comforting.

"You're right."

Gale's eyes widened, and a smile spread across her face. She drew her hands close to her heart, and, with the pure enthusiasm of a curious child, asked, "I must admit, I'm fairly curious about how you came into angels' employ. Would you treat me to an explanation?"

"It was an accident, really." There was something calming about her interest, a simple interest in the unknown, in the angels, that a murderous cultist probably wouldn't share. "It turned out a, um, friend of mine was actually a princess of the angels' kingdom living in disguise on Earth. She--"

Gale let out a disbelieving laugh. "What luck!"

"I wouldn't call it lucky..." Adrian told Gale a heavily abridged version of his story, with similar interjections from Gale every few sentences. Cutting most of the details, it shouldn't have taken him over a minute to tell, but Gale delayed the process quite a bit. He got the feeling she enjoyed being the one talking.

"I must say, those angels are lucky they stumbled onto someone as capable as your for this little mission," said Gale. "But you've got room to improve. Don't you worry, though--I'm more than willing to share some of my extensive knowledge with you."

"...what a privilege."

Gale nodded her head emphatically. "It truly is." She had been extremely mobile during the story, pacing about the room, never settling for longer than thirty seconds. But now she stopped directly in front of Adrian and glared up at him. He was several inches taller.

After a few seconds of deliberation, Gale gestured to the chair behind Adrian and said, "Sit down, will you?"

Adrian complied.

Gale stared down at him, hands on her hips, then nodded. "Very good. So, I've got a few more questions, if you don't mind. Don't you worry--I just figured, if we're going to"--her eye twitched--"work together to take down this organization, it would do me good to have a bit more info about you."

"Of course."

"Good. So, just out of curiosity...how did you get past the lie detectors? Or, crystals. You remember, right? At the testing site?"

Like he could forget. "With this." Adrian pulled the string of beads from his pocket. Gale snatched them up and held them an inch from her eyes, turning it over and tilting it back and forth. "They're enchanted. One of them shields me from the effects of dark magic."

"Fascinating." Gale held it up to the light and eyed it for a bit more before, with some reluctance, handing it back to Adrian."
"How did you get through?"

"Oh, me?" Gale chuckled. "With none of your silly magic tricks. I got through with pure talent--I'm just good at lying!" She glanced down at Adrian. "Do you know how those crystals work?"

"...no."

"Well, I do!" She launched into an explanation, looking quite similar to a teacher lecturing her students. "They're enchanted, like your beads, with dark magic. They're meant to glow when they sense irregularities in a person's..." She trailed off and fished for the word, gesturing loosely at nothing. "Life force? Energy? Something like that. You probably know that, when people lie, there's a physical reaction. Increased heartbeat and sweating and whatnot. Turns out, you energy-or-whatever has a reaction too, and that's what the crystal detects."

"Is that so," mumbled Adrian, too curious to outright reject Gale but too annoyed to humor her. For some reason, her condescending demeanor irked him.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Gale nodded in response to her own question. "Well, I'm asking you all this, so I might as well tell you something in exchange, right?" She leaned in next to Adrian's ear and dropped her voice to a whisper. "It's a secret, okay?" She winked in a show of playful confidentiality.

"What is it?" demanded Adrian, wishing she'd stop beating around the bush for every damn thing she said.

"Those 'bombs' I brought to the church..." A sly grin crept across her face. "Fakes. Duds. Just normal debris." She withdrew, smirking as she glimpsed Adrian's surprise.

Well, it made sense, looking back, but... "They weren't going to explode, no matter what happened."

"Well, of course!" said Gale. "I wasn't about to risk that church being blown to smithereens. There's a tip for you--when you're in such a perilous position, don't take risks. You should be taking notes."

Adrian didn't bothering answering. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

Gale clapped her hands together. "Oh, plenty--admittedly, I'm quite curious about these angels--but I'd like to get something out of the way first."

"Of course. What is it?"

The self satisfied smirk fell from her face, and she loomed over Adrian, face suddenly serious. "I've got a job to do, you realize. I'm a professional, and I will not tolerate you compromising my mission. You're a liability, inexperienced and weak, and if you even think you want to help me take this organization down, you're going to have to listen to everything I say."

Sick of being loomed over, Adrian stood up--Gale scowled slightly. "You don't have to worry about me," he said, taking a step back. "I swear. I'm only here to gather information--I'm not interested in whatever lofty plans you have. I'll stay out of your way."

Gale considered him for a moment before nodding. She smiled again. "Oh, that's nice. Though if you happen to find out anything interesting that, by some wild chance, I don't know, please let me know. Similarly, if the angels are planning something, I want to know. In return, I'll keep feeding you info about the organization."

Adrian turned the words over in his mind for a moment before saying, "Yes, that works."

"Even if I have everything covered, it's still nice to meet a fellow infiltrator. But, if we're going to work together, I'd like to get your real name." She lifted an expectant eyebrow when Adrian didn't immediately answer. "Well? Don't tell me you didn't--"

"Of course I did," he cut in. "It's Adrian."

But Gale wasn't pleased. "Adrian..."

"Adrian Kühn."

"A pleasure to really meet you."

"...yes, Ga--"

"No!" said Gale. "That's 'Officer Falk' to you. Or..." She grinned and winked. "Since we're accomplices now, I guess you can call me Jay." She stuck out her hand. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Adrian."

"Likewise, G--Jay." Adrian shook her hand.