The New York Halifax League

Bianca wasn’t inside DZ’s penthouse ten seconds before she was mobbed. Her blazer was half off, her heels hung off of her fingers, and she’d barely shut the door.

“What the hell, Bianca?” Sidney scowled.

“Did you get it?” Taylor pestered her.

“What happened to the feed?” Jon asked.

“Quiet!” Bianca rubbed her temples. “Give me thirty seconds to walk down the hallway.” Pushing through the boys, she continued shrugging out of her jacket and pulling her hair up on top of her head in a bun.

“Look who made it out alive,” Michael started a slow clap.

She ignored them, rummaging through her purse, and throwing Taylor the flash drive. “It was pretty well hidden,” Bianca pushed a few stray hairs out of her eyes. “Maybe it’ll have something interesting.” Probably not.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Sidney demanded as she began walking out of the living room.

“Jesus!” she whipped back around. “I’m going to change my clothes. Am I allowed to do that, Dad?”

“You don’t have to have an attitude, Bianca,” Sidney shot back. “You’re the one who cut off our ears during this whole thing.”

Bianca let out a quiet ‘fuck’. She had to give Taylor back the crushed devices. Poor kid.

“Maybe if you had a little faith in me, Kid,” Bianca refused to raise her voice at him. They weren’t children anymore. “We’re not rookies this time around.”

She left him with that and closed herself inside DZ’s walk-in closet. The size of some Manhattan apartments, Bianca had been sleeping on the pullout.

How was it that Sidney could still push all of her buttons? After all this time, he still knew just how to get a rise out of her. It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.

She changed into jeans and a long sleeved shirt with comfortable flats. There wasn’t any point in sticking around while they poured over the flash drive Bianca had brought back and a walk around the city would help to calm her down.

As she expected, all of the boys were crowded around Taylor’s makeshift desk in the living room. In no way would they let her slip out of the apartment unnoticed, but hopefully they would leave her be for a little while.

Once the front door to the penthouse had shut, Sidney stood up straight.

“Taylor, take care of this,” he said sliding into his shoes. “I’ll be back.”



He didn’t know what had made him follow her or what even could be achieved in him leaving the penthouse, but Sidney had learned that when Bianca Tatem left, it was almost always beneficial to follow her.

Sidney followed her towards Central Park and farther into midtown. She checked her phone three times and finally, she stopped at a food stand. Once she had seated herself on a bench nearby, Sidney followed suit and got in line for his own drink. Angling himself so that he was behind a group of people but could still see the bench, he waited.

Bianca sat alone for several minutes, drinking a lemonade. Soon enough, someone sat on the bench next to her. A man, no older or younger than Sidney, began speaking to her. Bianca chuckled politely, almost enough to make Sidney think the man was meaninglessly flirting with the stranger he was sharing a bench with. Almost.

“Hey buddy?” the vendor prompted Sidney. “Buddy?”

“Uh,” Sidney jerked his body forward. “Medium iced coffee. Black.” Taking his drink, he hovered a few yards from the bench.

“You always manage to get away just at the right minute,” the man said.

“It’s a gift,” Bianca deadpanned, emotionless. “What do you want, Ben?”

“You spend nine months in Siberia and I can’t check up on you? My girlfriend?”

“Oh please,” Bianca snorted. “Girlfriend? More like an easy booty call. Something that, while I’m not ashamed of it, was not my best moment. Or series of moments, I guess is a better way at putting it.”

“Bi.”

“Don’t call me that,” she spat. “Mind your own damn business, Ben. If I needed you, I’d let you know.”

Sidney smiled to himself as he turned away, walking back towards DZ’s penthouse. She was still the same old, stubborn Bianca. Beautiful as ever, but she was still as good at holding a grudge as she was then.

He got back to the penthouse to find all of the team spread out around the living room and dining room. Taylor’s laptop was running a decryption program with its owner sitting nearby, eating a bowl of popcorn.

“Your idea of a fun night in?” Sidney asked as he stole a handful of popcorn.

“To each his own,” Taylor shrugged.

Sidney moved towards his shared room, but stopped halfway there. “Hey rookie.”

Gabe perked up on the couch. “Sir?”

Smiling in spite of himself – he saw so much of his younger self in the younger captain – he said, “Wait up for her. See what she’s been up to.”

“You think we’re supposed to believe that you don’t already know?” Brad sipped his beer by the open window where he and DZ smoked cigars and Patrick played with a lighter.

“I’d like to hear her side of things,” Sidney said over his shoulder. “Good night.”



Bianca stayed out until well after dark. Papa Crosby was probably dying to know what she’d been up to since the park. Of course she’d know he was there. Sidney was good at what he did but it was hard to miss that ass in those jeans.

The ass, of course, that any woman involved in the League loved to gossip about.

The penthouse was mostly dark and completely silent when she got back. Only a flickering from the much too large flat screen that was on mute filled the apartment, flashing across a sleeping Gabe. She sat down a little too hard on the couch, making sure that Gabe could do the job Sidney no doubt left for him. He shot upward kicking the coffee table in the process.

“Easy there, killer,” Bianca stopped the glass from tipping over.

“Wha-what time is it?” Gabe pushed the blanket off of his legs and yanked a light on. “Shit, what time is it?”

“Relax, relax,” she brushed her hair back. “It’s a little after ten.” She settled back against the couch. “And I’m guessing Sidney told you to give your due and wait up to interrogate me.”

“Yeah,” Gabe spoke without thinking.

“Are you…gonna do that? Or not?”

Gabe stayed silent.

“Captain Kid would want you to dig into the truth, even though he probably already knows what he wants.” Bianca leaned forward. “Are you going to be his lap dog?”

She was testing him. She wanted to see just where he stood.

“No.”

Bianca smiled. “Good. Now, tell me about Sweden.”