Chapter Text
Beckendorf woke up in a dark room, a dull throbbing in the back of his head. He grimaced as his vision slowly adjusted. A pale light shone on him from above, but beyond that he couldn’t make anything else out in his surroundings. He shifted in his seat to find his hands tied behind his back. A cold feeling crept into his chest. Slowly his memories came back to him...
The restaurant. The park. Silena.
Beckendorf’s heart raced, but before he could form another thought, a rusty door creaked open in the darkness. Steady footsteps echoed towards him, then one man stepped into the light. He had on an army-green cargo jacket over a black shirt, jeans and brown leather boots. He regarded Beckendorf with crossed arms, a slight smirk outlining hard features.
“Glad to see you’re finally awake,” he said, his tone unexpectedly light. “We weren’t sure how long the sedative would take to wear off, but it is a prototype after all.”
“Who are you?” Beckendorf asked gruffly.
“You’re a smart man, Charles. I’m sure you can figure out why we’ve brought you here.”
Beckendorf swallowed past the lump in his throat when a tingling sensation emerged at the back of his neck. Someone else was watching him.
He took a steadying breath. “What did you do to me? Where is..?”
The man didn’t answer. Instead he stepped to the side to reveal an unconscious figure sitting at the edge of the light. Amusement danced in his eyes as he watched Beckendorf’s expression. He resumed his previous stance.
“She’s fine, don’t worry. She’s only sleeping, though whether that remains the case depends on how the rest of this conversation goes. Now, I don’t want to waste any more time. Do you know why you’re here?”
“You want information,” Beckendorf said through gritted teeth. “About Olympus?”
“Right-o. Don’t take it personally, but we thought a little incentive would help speed things up. As long as you cooperate, nothing bad will happen to Silena. I swear it on my heart.”
Beckendorf’s stare hardened. “You should know I stopped working with them years ago. What makes you think I even have the information you want?”
“We have our sources. It’s worthy to note that your clearance level gave you access to certain information which I doubt would have changed after all these years. Luckily for you we’ve already got the rest of our intelligence taken care of, so there’s only one thing we need from you: tell us the locations of where Olympus stores its equipment, and at the end of all this your girlfriend will wake up at home none the wiser about what happened here tonight. At least not for a while.”
A lead weight settled in Beckendorf’s stomach. They were in this mess because of him. He couldn’t let Silena die.
He steeled himself. “How do I know you won’t still hurt her after I give you what you want?”
The man’s expression turned sympathetic, but Beckendorf knew it wasn’t genuine. “I’m afraid you’ll just have to trust me. Anyway, our boss doesn’t like unnecessary messes, so there’s really no reason for us to harm her since she’ll have no recollection of any of this when she wakes up. Speaking of, I’m not sure how much longer that drug will last, and I imagine it won’t be pleasant if she happens to come to before we’re done. So now, how about those locations? Before this needs to become a mess.”
“All right,” Beckendorf snapped. There was no going back. “There’s a warehouse in Seaport, 102 South Street. Only one location.”
“Excellent. I assume there are silent alarms on all entrance points?”
“Yes, but you can disable them using the breaker box behind the building. It’ll be red in colour with the logo of Poseidon Enterprises on the inside panel.”
“Any guards we’ll need to worry about?”
“There shouldn’t be. Olympus was confident the silent alarms were enough for monitoring. A few agents would be deployed to investigate if they were set off, but once you disable them you shouldn’t have a problem.”
The man grinned. “Perfect. My boss will be so pleased to hear how helpful you were. You can rest assured that your girl will stay unharmed after all this is over—I am a man of my word.”
He unfolded his arms and gestured to someone behind Beckendorf. Light footsteps trod across the concrete floor as his accomplice came into view. As he turned, his face became visible. Beckendorf’s eyes widened.
“Ah, you remember Ethan,” the man said. “I imagine this is difficult but, you know, you can’t discount a good strategy.”
Ethan stayed silent next to him, his stare cold and piercing. Beckendorf’s heart stung with betrayal. He couldn’t believe he had fallen for it.
Cargo Jacket pulled out a small cylindrical object from his inside pocket. It glinted metallically in the light as he turned it in his hands.
Beckendorf stiffened. “Where did you get that?”
Cargo Jacket’s lips quirked in amusement. “Moles can be pretty useful, as you might know. Makes our job a whole lot easier.”
He strode up to Beckendorf, getting right in front of him before leaning down and fiddling with the hem of his shirt, calloused fingers brushing against his collarbone.
Beckendorf clenched his fists. He contemplated headbutting him but figured it would change nothing and might only drive them to hurt Silena as punishment. Instead he looked past the man’s shoulder at his girlfriend’s unconscious form a few metres ahead, half-shrouded in darkness. He tried to commit her face to memory one last time, and though her eyes were closed he already knew the exact shade of them.
Cargo Jacket stepped back as if to admire his handiwork. “Hmm. A fitting message for your friend, don’t you agree?”
Beckendorf glared at him. Anger guided his next words. “You should know that everything you’re doing now will be for nothing. Try whatever tactic you can think of, but your boss will find out soon enough that he made a mistake ever going up against Percy Jackson, and for that matter, the rest of Olympus. You’re not going to get away with this.”
Cargo Jacket looked unfazed. “Such a rousing speech. And yet, I’m not the one who’ll be leaving in a body bag.” His hand went for something in the back of his jeans.
Heart hammering, Beckendorf’s mind went back to his old friend. Despite everything, thinking about his old job set him at peace, and he was thankful for the respite. He wondered how much progress had been made since he left, and deep down he hoped Percy could forgive him for what was going to happen. Most importantly, he hoped that his trap would work.
Standing behind Cargo Jacket, Ethan studied him for the last time with an expression Beckendorf couldn’t place. But then he tore his eyes away as his accomplice levelled a gun at Beckendorf’s chest.
The man’s smirk gleamed balefully in the overhead light. “You know, I’d say it was nice meeting you... but I’d be lying.”
A deafening bang echoed in the large, empty space. For a moment Beckendorf felt nothing. Then a burning sensation flared in his chest, agony ripping through every nerve for a small eternity. He felt his consciousness slipping.
Then he descended into darkness.