Chapter Text
Two weeks after getting married, Lan now sat on a private plane to Los Angeles. He had been so excited when he told Moiraine, and greatly looked forward to seeing her again for the first time since she became his wife. He sat on a couch, looking out into the sea of clouds from the window.
His boss was on the other side of the plane, separated from him through a curtain and a couple more chairs. He was told to stay there while she had a conversation with her two other bodyguards. They weren't typical guards like he was, Lan knew as much. The two were much in a higher position than him, and they were more hands-on with their employer's business. Lan's job was mainly standing guard and giving protection. Theirs was to run errands that Lan never concerned himself with.
The annoyed voice of his boss followed by a loud curse attracted his attention. He walked over to the curtains in alarm, but he didn't make an immediate move. The inaudible conversation continued, and his ears were able to faintly pick up the words 'sun queen'. It was an off-limits meeting, and there was no sign of threat after that, so he went back to his seat before he could be caught.
When their plane landed and he went to fetch her personal belongings, his eyes caught sight of a photograph that was left behind on the table. It didn't show anything clearly. It was from a night vision camera, and it only caught an image of what he assumed was someone hiding behind a wall as the mid-ends of a lock of hair was visible from where the camera was. The hair color was hard to decipher, and all there really was to see was that it had a slight curl to it.
The photo was snatched away in an instant when one of the other guards came around. "Boss said to take the week or so off after we land. I'll call when we need you. High profile clients," he gruffly said to Lan before he left promptly. 'High profile clients' wasn't new to Lan, and in his years working with them, it just meant that it was a classified matter and completely none of his business. He usually used this time to go on hiking trips or take swordsmanship classes. But this time, he had a wife he couldn't wait to go home to.
Moiraine sat in the briefing room of the Los Angeles Police Department, watching passing officers through the see-through glass that surrounded the room before her attention was brought back to the woman speaking in front. Sgt. Siuan Sanche. Watch Commander.
"As most of you may know, the department has spent years trying to stop all operations of manufacturing of chemical weapons led by the Daughter of the Night."
Moiraine could sense the steady tension that rose from the blood of everyone in the room. The Daughter of the Night became the center of attempted chemical busts many times before, but she always managed to escape at the last moment. She did her business in the night, hiding in the darkness, and the department had no luck in tracking her or her suppliers or any of her associates. It's like she simply didn't exist—like a black smoke or an angel in disguise who disappeared through a portal whenever the police caught a trail of her.
No one ever had any idea about her real identity. Until now.
"We recently acquired a positive ID on her. Turns out, she has a legitimate business, hence all the tons of unaccounted chemical supplies that we never heard of being sold to other criminals."
Siuan clicked on the remote in her hand, and photos went up on the TV screen. Lots of heads turned towards each other, disbelief and faint shock on their faces at what they saw. She wasn't just famous in crime, she was famous to the outside world too.
"Mierin Eronaile," Siuan announced loudly, shushing the whispers. "CEO and head scientist of the One Power Alternative Energy Project."
"So, that's where all the chemicals go," an officer remarked. "Unfortunately, we still need more to tie her with her transactions as Daughter of the Night—something enough to stop the DA from shoving the case back in our faces. Not to mention that she's very hard to get ahold of with all that travelling. That's what we need to work on," Siuan continued, and the screen showed new photographs of Eronaile in her public appearances.
Moiraine searched the photos for details, anything that might lead them somewhere. And there was something. But it wasn't what anyone in her position would want to find.
In most of Eronaile's photos, there stood a familiar figure in a suit in the background, on her side, or in front of her. Shielding her from paparazzi. Protecting her. Guarding her. Holding her door for her.
In those photos, Moiraine didn't find a target. She found her husband.
"These three are the ones who work closest with her most of the time." Three photos flashed with names written under them. Ishamael Tedronai. Rahvin Mosinel. Lan Mandragoran.
Moiraine felt a breath get caught in her throat. She swallowed uncomfortably, her right hand moving to interlace with her left, her fingers fidgeting with her wedding ring.
"That one looks more like an errand-boy from the photos earlier," an officer pointed a finger towards Lan's photo before running a hand through his curly hair. Mat Cauthon. Patrol Officer.
Siuan let out a sigh. "We thought so too. But it's good to keep an eye out for him anyway. If he's not deep into her business, then maybe we can flip him."
Moiraine nodded at that, not too enthusiastically in a way that anyone would notice that she knew Lan. It gave her a sense of comfort that even the higher-ups didn't see him as much of an accomplice as the other guards. Her Lan wouldn't do that. Right? He was a soldier, and now, he's a bodyguard. He has committed his life to protecting people. If he could feel the same way towards her after almost two decades, he could stay committed to his principles. He was landing soon and she had time to warn him. But first, she needed to get out of the station.
She exited the briefing room along with the others, and she spotted that familiar red hair that looked like a beacon of hope for her at the moment. She approached him, and he already raised a hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose upon noticing her.
"Althor," Moiraine leaned against his desk and called sweetly, which often meant that she was going to ask for something. He leaned back on his chair, interlacing his fingers and placed them on top of his stomach.
"Do you have someone who needs to be interviewed?" she asked. "Don't you?" he questioned back, already looking suspiciously at her.
Moiraine sighed. "Sanche put me on desk work until I get cleared by the department psychiatrist." He winced at that. He knew she hated being stuck. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a name, an address, and details needed for the interview.
He folded the paper and held it up in between two fingers. "If you get in trouble, I'd tell her that you forced me into this."
"I have always been your scapegoat anyway," she said, taking the paper from him.
"And I'm yours," he gave her a cheeky grin that immediately dropped as he grabbed her left hand before she could put the paper in her pocket.
"Moiraine, what is that?" He looked back and forth between her and her hand.
"It's jewelry," she said casually.
"I can see that, but it looks an awful lot like a wedding ring."
"Goodbye, Rand," she said with a yank of her hand, and pushed herself off his desk, quickly walking away before he could pry even more.
Moiraine had called Lan to meet her in a resto-bar near where she conducted an interview. She buttoned up her blazer before heading inside, the fabric covering a few inches past her hips. She spotted him sitting in a booth on one corner, and he stood up to greet her. His arms immediately settled around her as he leaned down for a long-awaited kiss.
"My beautiful wife," he said, absolutely enjoying the feeling of saying that to her for the first time. She gave him a shove on the chest shyly, momentarily forgetting about all that is going wrong.
"What? You earned that title," he said proudly and pulled her into the booth. A man shortly came up to them to take their drinks order, barely looking up to meet their eyes as he wrote on a notepad. Moiraine ordered something non-alcoholic. She was still on the job after all.
"I have good news," he started, taking her hand in his. "My employer gave me this coming week off, maybe even longer than that." He was practically beaming with excitement, but she couldn't celebrate just yet.
"Did she say why?" Lan briefly narrowed his eyes in confusion at her question. He shook his head. "High profile business. She gives me random long vacations like this often. I get called when she wants me back again."
He was being shut out, Moiraine thought. So, he really didn't know anything.
The drinks didn't take long to arrive as there weren't a lot of people in the place during the hour, though she briefly wondered why they were served first among others who were there first. She took a deep breath and immediately went for her drink, hoping that the cold would shake her out and give her the words she needed to say.
"Stressful day?" he asked as he eyed her down the liquid at once. It wasn't even alcoholic—he suddenly remembered something. "I thought you were working today."
"I am. About that..." She drummed her fingers against the table, then decided to just spit out the words. "I know who your employer is." Lan thought about that for a moment, then gave her a look that told her to continue talking because what she just said didn't have enough sense. Mierin was a public figure, it wasn't that impossible for his wife to find out about his boss.
"Do you know what she's doing? Do you know about the chemicals?" she questioned, an accusation flaring up in the end. "She's a scientist working on a new energy source. The world knows that. We wheel in chemicals all the time. What are you getting at?" He was getting defensive and stressed at the tone she started. He emptied out his drink.
"We have intel and reason to think that she's the Daughter of the Night and the head of a massive chemical weapons operation," she said low. Lan knew that title from the news.
"What? Where did you even get that? What intel? From a tip call?" He was still convinced that she was a Dispatch officer. He ran a frustrated hand through his face. "Moiraine, you're telling me that the woman I worked for and defended for years is leading a criminal organization. The woman that some people see as an angel. I know her."
"Do you?!" she questioned, her voice rising. She was starting to get dizzy from it all. "Then, why is she always leaving you out of 'certain business'? If it's so high profile, why pull out her trusted bodyguard when she could need protection the most?"
"Moiraine," he called out to her tiredly and blinked back hard, putting his hands on her arms as he worked through her words, making sense of it all. She looked at him through the fuzziness in her vision, confused and worried. "What's wrong?"
He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut before leaning back against the wooden carving panel. He took a steadying breath before speaking. "I might have heard from her secretary that there were some employees threatening to protest..." his voice faded out and he went still.
"Something's wrong..." she said weakly as her eyes darted around, catching sight of their drinks. She managed to push her glass out of the way and place her arm on the table before her head fell on it as she passed out.
Moiraine stirred awake, opening her eyes but only a faint light managed to reach her. A kick and a loud groan sounded from the room. Her head turned towards the sound, and footsteps suddenly came rushing towards her. The bag over her head was pulled away, and she finally found Lan.
He was on the ground, wincing and groaning in pain. His hands were tied with a rope behind his back, and his shirt was dirtied with dust and blood. She was secured to her chair with her hands binded together with a zip tie.
"You're not even supposed to be here," the man said shakily to her, running an unsteady hand through his hair. He was a mess, and he looked like he hadn't slept well in months. "I wasn't prepared for the two of you," he said nervously. Moiraine could tell that now with the zip tie for her and the rope for Lan.
"You're just collateral damage. You were just there when I already planned to nab him," he shook his head at her, as if disappointed, then pulled out a gun from behind him. She recognized that gun. "Thank you for this, by the way," he chuckled grimly, and she could see Lan's face scrunch up in confusion about her carrying a gun. She tried to wiggle herself free again, almost tipping the chair over.
"Stop moving!" He yelled and pointed the gun at her. "Who are you?! What do you want?!" Lan screamed, and the gun turned towards him. "I want my wife back..." the man's voice faded into a whine. "Your damn boss took her from me!"
He bent down and hit Lan on the face with the cold metal of the gun. Lan glanced at Moiraine, now realizing that her words earlier may be the truth that he never saw. If someone could resort to kidnapping just to get back at Mierin, then she definitely wasn't the savior she made herself out to be.
"I can't get my hands on her, not yet, not with her goons around. But I can get my hands on you, her boy-toy. Let's see if she comes running after I kill you or if she'll just replace you just like she did with all her other employees."
"What happened to your wife?" Moiraine asked to get his attention away from Lan. If she was going to get kidnapped because of the Daughter of the Night, she might as well get information out of it.
"She told that woman that the radiation levels were too high and there was so much risk on every side..." He looked like he was going to cry at the memory, but then rage resurfaced. "But his boss pushed it forward anyway all because she was so obsessed with that project." He scoffed. "She wants to be so different and special so badly. She couldn't fathom the idea of being replaced and forgotten."
He waved the gun around between her and Lan to make his point. "She worked her employees to death to sustain the One Power, and forced them to do her crazy experiments to make her project stronger and better."
His hand went limp on his side after that, momentarily getting tired. Who knew what he had to go through during the time he spent following Lan around to kidnap him. "For fame, she would do anything and throw anyone under the bus." His voice faded and he gave a rough sniffle.
Her eyes met Lan's at the same time, a plan being conveyed in silence as they looked at each other. He moved without hesitation, scooting over on the floor and tripping the man on his feet, the gun falling away from his hold. Moiraine used the distraction, and reeled her body with great force backwards until her chair crashed broken, and pulled her hands apart until the tie busted.
The man crawled and went for the discarded gun at the same time she reached for her back-up piece in her boot. "Drop the gun!" she ordered as she raised hers. He didn't budge, his hand shaky as he tried to aim for her head. Lan noticed and sent a powerful kick to the man's back.
Shots were fired.
Both the man and Moiraine let out a loud groan. She fell back on the ground, a hand going to her side. She only took a moment to look at her blood-stained hand before pushing herself up and stumbling towards Lan as the man tried to crawl away with a bullet on his thigh. Moiraine grabbed a concealed blade from her other boot and cut Lan free. He immediately stood up and ran towards the man who just managed to get up on his feet, and tackled him to the ground. Lan fought his advances, delivering punches on the man's face until he passed out.
Lan took off his jacket and flipped the man over, using the sleeves to tie off the man's hands together behind him.
"911, what's your emergency?" He heard from Moiraine's phone that laid on the ground near her. He knelt beside her, putting more pressure on top of her hand that was pressing on the wound.
"Moiraine Damodred," she started with a deep intake of a breath, her eyes locking with his. His face showed panic and also confusion with the need to state her name first for an emergency, but it was answered quickly enough with her next words.
"Badge number 31325. Send an RA to my location..."
They were having a hard time stopping the bleeding. He ripped her blazer open in plans to remove it and use it to press on the wound. And there it was. A badge on her hip, cleverly hidden under her blazer when she met up with him. "Alert the LAPD. GSW to the right side..." She glanced at him as he turned her a little to the side, and he nodded. "...there's an exit wound."
"Officer..." she paused with a wince as he got her blazer off and covered the wound with it under his palms. "Officer down. I repeat, officer down."
Her eyes fell shut.