[Sub]𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜, 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 
𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟶𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟶. 
𝟷𝟺:𝟹𝟷[/sub]

The first time they'd met was nearly a decade ago, sheer luck. They'd been each working separate cases. It was the dead of winter, and the city of lights was painted in white. She was freezing, having spent all night on a stakeout and most of that day. There was a coffee shop across the street from the target's home, and that was where he was. It gave him a good vantage point to run surveillance (the smell of coffee was an added bonus). They didn't think much of each other, only exchanging a polite "hello" and "thank you" after she ordered her coffee, the whole thing very routine for both of them. The only thing either of them can remember thinking is that her French was very good for someone who was obviously not French (the ever-so-slight American accent when she said "latte" gave her away, not to mention the pale and freckled complexion was more likely to be of Irish descent), and that his jaw looked sharp enough to cut glass.





[sub]𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚍𝚒, 𝙳𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚘.
𝙼𝚊𝚢 𝟷𝟹𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟷
𝟸𝟶:𝟷𝟻[/sub]

The second time they'd met was a coincidence but less luck was involved. Ivory smuggling. He was there to get in touch with a contact that had gone silent for well over a month and she was there for the head of the organization. The business was detestable to her, being an animal lover. Especially detestable as elephants were her favorite animal (She'd once been chased by a rhino, so they could go to hell for all she cared. She was just upset about the elephants). At any rate, she was moments away from breaking up this smuggling ring. Or rather, she was moments away from taking them all out. His job was to find his contact and then extract information about the whereabouts of certain people. "You" was the only word they said, recognition having caused their trigger fingers to halt as they both stared down the barrel of the other's pistol. "Do you two need a moment?" a smuggler had asked. In a split second, the two were fighting back to back, becoming allies for the moments that it took them to take out the smugglers that were present, leaving one alive for him to carry out his mission. They parted ways without so much as a farewell.





[sub]𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚞𝚔𝚝𝚞, 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚒
𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟾𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟷
𝟶𝟸:𝟹𝟻[/sub]

Third time's a charm. His case had nothing to do with hers but since he'd caught wind of her in the area he wanted to make sure she'd keep her nose out of his business. One interference was more than enough. However, since he was not allowed to terminate her he had to get a little more creative with his approach. She had been in one of the local bars -doing what, he knew not but he couldn't care less- when he found her. Alone. It took patience yet fortunately he eventually managed to spike her drink. When she noticed something was off and tried to leave, he followed her until she nearly collapsed in an alley outside. He left her tied up in her motel room. She didn't bother him and he completed his mission without any occurrences.





[sub]𝙱𝚎𝚛𝚗, 𝚂𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚣𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍
𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟹𝚛𝚍, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟹
𝟶𝟾:𝟺𝟽[/sub]

He had begun actively avoiding crossing paths with her ever since. Thus, the fourth time they'd met had been more of an unpleasant shock than a surprise. Today he was Isaac Strauss, the German, here on a business trip to finalize some deals for his 'employer'. He had been walking along the street, briefcase in hand, and was approaching his target to plant a tracking device when a tourist got in the way. Bleached hair, blue eyes, artificially tanned complexion ([i]'Typical American'[/i] he had thought), a face full of tacky makeup, and a very poor attempt at the country's mother tongue. He tried to brush her off but she had insisted so he forced a smile and directed her to the hotel she was looking for. The entire conversation lasted less than a minute by the time he looked back, the target was gone. Later that night he remembered where he had seen that face before and shattered the mirror in his bathroom. 




[sub]𝙻𝚊𝚜 𝚅𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚜, 𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊
𝙵𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟷𝚜𝚝, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟻
𝟷𝟶:𝟻𝟾[/sub]

Ironically this was likely what he would consider their most notable encounter even though he can barely recall any of it. All he knows for sure is that she was somehow the reason he ended up getting his head shoved into a table by some bouncer at a high-end club (he still has the tiny scar under the left corner of his jaw because of it) and woke up with a migraine the size of the moon the next morning. This would not be the first time he considered permanently silencing her. Unfortunately his agency did not permit it, something about delicate truces.





[sub]𝙱𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚊, 𝚂𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗
𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝟷𝟶𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟷8
𝟷𝟸:𝟻𝟺[/sub]

The two crossed paths many times over the years, often assigned the same case but with different outcomes in mind. They donned different disguises every time but ultimately reached a point where they were able to recognize the other almost instantly regardless of the getups. After all, there was only so much that hair and clothing can do. Eventually yielding to the fact that they would see their counterpart quite often, they started a game of "who can get to the mark first," and frequently left behind false clues to throw the other off track. Nothing major, just enough to give them an advantage. One particularly notable instance of this was the fifteenth time they met, when they were both trying to find the same contact, and had been fed information that the other agency was attempting to take out their mutual interest. Naturally this resulted in elevated levels of aggression from both parties. Before it was discovered they had been baited with false information there were several incidents involving grenades, coffee with salt instead of sugar, sabotage, and quite a bit of name-calling that neither are proud of. Eventually they realized that they were both were trying to protect the contact, and reverted to the usual shenanigans. Although pouring salt in coffee became a bit of an inside joke (if you can call a death glare from a very angry red-head threatening to kill you an inside joke). In the end he got to the contact first, as she had dismissed some actual clues as just being nonsense that he had planted. She later flipped him off in the airport as they passed each other going back to their respective countries.





[sub]𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢...[/sub]

This was not how he expected to see her again.