The underground record room of Aegis HQ buzzed with low chatter, clinks of bottles, and the faint beat of music coming from a wall-mounted speaker. A holographic fire crackled in the corner, purely aesthetic. In that room were member of Task Force, Ghost and his team.
Keegan was arm-wrestling Kick at the center table, both straining, teeth gritted.
"Come on, grandma," Keegan muttered, "I've seen you hit harder in your sleep."
"Say that again after I slam your wrist through this damn table," Kick growled.
Around them, the others lounged in various states of comfort. Alex "Ajax" Johnson was cleaning his sidearm with precision while watching the match. Neptune was sprawled on a beanbag, sipping something suspiciously fruity from a whiskey glass.
"You boys should just kiss already," Neptune chimed, lazily. "Save us the tension."
"I'll let you kiss my knuckles in a second," Kick shot back.
From the corner couch, Simon 'Ghost' Riley sat with Riddian "Grim" Poe, both quietly watching a muted war documentary on the screen above. Grim was balancing a combat knife vertically on one finger, flipping it once in a while.
David 'Hesh' Walker leaned against the kitchenette bar, arms crossed, watching his brother Logan Walker argue with Chris "Torch" Greene over whose stealth score was higher on their last sim mission.
"You triggered two alarms!" Logan protested.
"I disabled two alarms," Torch corrected. "Difference. And one of them was already blinking when I got there."
"Because you triggered it!"
"It was you! You stepped on the damn floor sensor!"
The shouting startled Riley the dog, who lifted his head from his nap at Elias T. 'Scarecrow' Walker feet. The canine let out a low growl, just annoyed enough to make both Logan and Torch raise their hands in apology.
"Sorry, bud," Torch muttered.
Scarecrow, the old wolf in the room, didn't speak much—just took a slow drag from a cigar, eyes scanning his team. Thomas A. Merrick sat nearby, sipping black coffee, eyes tired but amused.
"This is the calmest I've seen them in weeks," Merrick said dryly.
Scarecrow grunted.
"Let'em be. They need this."
Suddenly, Keegan roared as he slammed Kick's hand down.
"BOOM! That's what I'm talking about!"
"Rematch," Kick snapped. "That one didn't count."
"It never counts when you lose," Ajax said with a smirk.
Ghost finally spoke, voice muffled but clear.
"Anyone else wonder what kind of weird bar this is, where the bartender is a trained sniper and the dog has a kill count?"
Neptune lifted his drink.
"To the weird bar," he toasted.
Everyone, even the quiet ones, chuckled.
They were elite. Deadly. Shadow operatives feared across continents. But here—under the humming lights, surrounded by jokes, bad coffee, and the warmth of camaraderie—they were just soldiers.
Brothers.
A pack.
And this day, they could breathe.
Later that night,
Elias "Scarecrow" Walker sat at the bar, sipping on black coffee like it was whiskey. His eyes scanned the room, always on alert even when off duty.
"C'mon, lighten up, Elias," Hesh called from the card table. "We're not being hunted today—for once."
Elias gave a tight smile. "Just waiting for the universe to catch up."
Ghost leaned against the wall, mask on as always, arms crossed. Logan and Keegan were mid-game of poker with Kick, Neptune, and Torch. Judging by the pile of chips in front of Logan, he was either lucky or bluffing everyone blind.
"Logan cheats," Neptune muttered under his breath.
"I don't cheat," Logan grinned, flipping a full house.
"You just lie really well," Keegan replied, tossing his cards down.
Ajax was sprawled on one of the couches, Riley the dog curled up beside him, tail thumping softly against the floor. He reached down and gave the German shepherd a scratch behind the ears. "This dog's got more discipline than half the people I've served with."
Grim Poe was still fiddling with a custom sidearm at the nearby workbench, muttering about calibrations and recoil tolerances. He didn't talk much, but everyone respected the hell out of him.
"You think we'll get a break longer than 12 hours next time?" Torch asked, flipping a chip between his fingers.
"Doubt it," Ghost answered dryly. "We're the Ghosts. If we're not working, something's gone really wrong."
The room laughed—grim humor, but humor nonetheless.
"But we might be deployed soon, other night we just tagged Nick Fury. We might need to take action based on the situation," said Ghost.
"Alright," Merrick said as he entered with a tablet in hand. "Next op is still pending. Enjoy this lull, boys. Won't last."
"Say that like it's a threat," Kick smirked.
Elias stood up and walked over to the big screen. "Movie night, anyone?"
"Only if it's not Top Gun again," Ajax groaned. "Keegan starts quoting Maverick."
"That's because I am Maverick," Keegan grinned, grabbing popcorn from Logan.
"You're more like Goose," Torch quipped.
More laughter.
Ghost finally stepped forward, clapping a hand on Logan's shoulder. "Let's just enjoy the quiet. It's rare."
As the lights dimmed slightly for the movie, Riley barked once and then settled back down.
Peace—however short—was a precious thing.
On the other hand, same evening, Hunter was with just done with the client meetings.
From the meeting room on the upper floor of Grant Enterprises, one could see nearly all of Midtown—calm, gleaming, unaware. Hunter stood alone, one hand in his coat pocket, the other holding a glass of neat bourbon. The day's meetings had been long but efficient. Internally, numbers balanced. Resources redirected. Shell companies reinforced. Externally, signed new deal. Kept the income steady. The machine kept running.
Behind him, the soft sliding of a glass door broke the silence.
"Sir?" came a tentative voice.
Hunter turned slightly. It was Sara, one of the senior data analysts same one he appreciated yesterday morning. Mid-twenties, intelligent, reserved—she rarely spoke outside of briefings, but her reports were some of the sharpest on his desk. Today she was wearing a grey suit with skirt and white shirt which revealed ample of her cleavage. She held a thin tablet clutched to her chest like a shield.
"I didn't mean to interrupt," she said quickly, cheeks pink. "I just… saw you here, and I thought… I could give you the early projection models on urban intel clusters."
Hunter gave a slight smile, setting his drink on the railing. "Always working ahead of schedule, Sara."
She nodded, stepping closer and handing over the tablet. Their fingers brushed for a second—just barely—but it was enough to make her glance away toward the skyline, trying to cover her sudden nervousness.
He looked over the model. "You've layered economic data with predictive social triggers."
"Yes, sir. I thought it might help optimize our field placements… or… the other placements," she added softly.
Hunter raised an eyebrow, impressed. "You think it's ready for deployment?"
"I—I think it's ready to be tested," she said quickly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I mean… if you think so."
He looked at her for a moment—noticing the careful confidence underneath her quiet demeanor. "I do."
Sara smiled—small but sincere.
"Share the drive link to me I will look into it and we can start on the modeling and simulation phase soon", said Hunter
Suddenly he received a prompt on his tablet.
While Sara was sharing the link with him, he tapped the tablet, pulled up a confidential dashboard—one accessible only from his tablet and after verifying his identity. The screen split to show parts of Grant Enterprises' "civilian" holdings… and beneath them, the black-lined map network of AEGIS operations—it interlinked through cafes, bars, hotels, tech hubs, and more. From above, it looked like a hidden artery system running under the skin of Manhattan.
From: Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Phase 1 complete. We're in. – Ezio
Hunter was engrossed in his thoughts, when another prompt appeared on his tablet, this time on the Grant Enterprises' server.
"I have shared the link with you", she exclaimed.
Hunter took a look on the shared data, "I will ask the modelling and simulation team to keep you in loop when the phase starts, feel free to give you input".
"Thanks for your hard work", he added.
"No problem, sir!" Sara was happy with the compliment but at the same time she also felt somewhat disappointed as she was about to leave the room.
"And Sara! Don't overwork yourself. The projects will go on. Take care of yourself", Hunter said in soft voice,
"Yes sir" she said with slight blush as she left the room.
Hunter picked up the bourbon which was still lying on the railing and enjoyed it before picking up the tablet and returning to his office.
'Lets work on it shall we'