Be Gay Do Crime

Ashe wasn’t sure what to expect, going into what would amount to an enemy stronghold.  She didn’t have a clear objective, just a few names of interest that might know something.  Worse, she would be going in without much in the way of assistance.  A voice in her ear, and a bodycam that would be broadcasting back to a computer that Jessica would be supervising.  Ashe wasn’t quite sure she should be trusting the girl as much as she was, but her former bully was stepping up at each and every opportunity presented. 

If Ashe was going to make all of this work, she would absolutely need to have subordinates she could rely on.  Maybe she should consider extending some trust to Brie, see if she would prove to be a friend.  She was already trusting Caralina and Jessica despite everything after all. 

Brushing that thought aside, Ashe went back to going over the website for the political rally, looking for information on the security team in particular.  There wasn’t much to go on, which meant she might have to do a lot more improvisation than she would have liked.  Frustrating, but not impossible. 

Just more work to add to the pile, and it was looking like the plans to infiltrate the Rally and find the one person out of nearly a hundred that she would be looking for.  Crystal had an invite, but she would be at her genetic donor’s side for much of the event, and under watch besides.  Unless their man just happened to be one of those guarding her, there wasn’t much hope for an easy kill. 

The easiest method of downing the man would be some laced drugs, but given Ashe wouldn’t be able to go as Inferno, she’d be risking getting caught with the stuff as just herself.  Everything about the situation was dangerous, but she didn’t want to risk tipping her parents off about the man and giving the bastard a window to escape. 

She’d hoped he would be among the crowds, making an assassination easier, but her luck wasn’t holding.  Ashe would have to get right into the thick of things.  Taking a deep breath, she checked herself over once more and pressed forward.  At least it had given her an excuse to skip school and avoid Gray’s fuckery completely. 

The crowds were dense, even hours before the rally was set to begin.  Ashe hadn’t been sitting idle, however, she’d been busy all day watching the security that the senator had hired for the venue.  It was a simple trip to the supermarket to replicate their general outfit well enough to blend in.  She’d also taken a moment to make sure her makeup hadn’t messed up.  Jessica had helped her contour in a way that hid her facial profile a bit, drawing attention away from her more defining features if someone needed to ID her later. 

Walking through the area, she nodded to another member of the security team even as she failed to slip his security ID from his belt.  That made the third one that was wearing one of Ellington’s reelection hats.  Besides the ID, one of the hats would complete the outfit she needed to blend in properly. 

Knowing that she needed to get closer to these assholes she began to look around for the vendor section.  It wasn’t hard to spot thanks to the dozens of flags visible over the throngs of people already gathered, hoping to get their seats.  

Walking past the vendor as they were setting up, she eyed the hats.  She didn’t want to pay for one, as it would no doubt just go right into Ellington’s coffers, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t just steal one. 

It was just a matter of how to do it without getting caught. 

She stepped closer, looking at the shirts hanging above while she carefully reached for the brim of one of the ‘Return to Greatness 28’ hats, because she wouldn’t be caught dead wearing an ‘America the Pure’ hat even for the sake of infiltration.  Her hand came to rest on the counter, tapping the edge of the fabric as her hand inched ever closer to just grabbing it.

The older man stocking the stall turned around just as she was reaching for one of the hats and her hand froze with a finger on the brim.  He blinked, then looked her over and his expression shifted from mild annoyance to grandfatherly affection.

“Ah, interested in helping me advertise?” he asked with a kind smile.  “Feel free to take one of your liking, it’s for a good cause after all.” 

Ashe’s stomach turned upside down at the sheer warmth in his voice.  The knowledge of how quickly that would bleed away into pure vitriol if he knew she was trans only made it worse.  These were the people trying to end her freedom and life, and when in the company of those who they found acceptable, they were downright pleasant and civil. 

It was all too common, and only demonstrated how most people couldn’t spot a trans person no matter how much they believed they could.

“It’s nice to see a young woman interested in helping return America to how things should be,” he said, handing her the hat that she had been planning to steal.  “So many young ones these days are only interested in killing babies and corrupting honest men.  We need more God fearing women in this world.” 

Swallowing the bile in the back of her throat, Ashe nodded mutely, not trusting her voice at the moment.  She took the hat, tucking the tag inside and put it on, pulling her ponytail through the back of it.  Ashe felt dirty, wearing the mark of a monster upon her brow, but she needed the information one way or another. 

“Thank you,” she said softly. 

He just smiled wider, waving as she walked away.  That just left securing the ID, which was proving to be the biggest problem barring her way.  There was enough security milling about, which meant she would likely need to mingle with them, and hopefully create an opportunity. 

That was easier said than done, and the only thing she could think of left a bitter taste in her mouth.  It was one advantage to passing that she could exploit, but it came far too close to some of the insults people referred to trans individuals with.  In the end needs must, and she needed an ID badge to get inside. 

She spent the next twenty minutes just milling about, having passing interactions with various security staff.  Her sunglasses would obscure her face, and the makeup would hopefully do the rest given she couldn’t wear a mask.  It wasn’t foolproof, but in the event shit went sideways, people should have difficulty picking her out of a lineup.

Those thoughts helped her work up the nerve to approach a group on an obvious coffee break near one of the side doors.  She’d run dozens of scenarios through her head, and had landed on one she hoped would work.

“Hey,” she said, acting bashful as she played with the empty loop on her belt.  “I sorta dropped my badge somewhere, can you help me out?  I kinda need to pee and don’t want to use one of the...”  She hooked her thumb back to the line of portable toilets and looked away. 

One of the older men, who happened to have a very visible iron cross tattooed on his shoulder, laughed.  “First time working at an event like this?” 

She nodded, bile rising up as she prepared to give the excuse she had rehearsed in her head for the last ten minutes.  “Yeah.  My dad used to be a cop before he was forced to retire, fucking Viuda bastards.”  

The man winced in sympathy.  “We’ve lost too many good, honest, men to those animals.” 

Ashe could only nod, biting back the retort she wanted to deliver.  Instead, she focused on her improvised backstory.  “I wanted to follow in his footsteps and get some payback but I can’t join the force until I turn twenty-one.  Figured security was a good stopgap to help pay for college since I don’t qualify for one of those ‘diversity scholarships’ that the trash used to get in on a free ride.” 

Another man spit off to the side.  “Yeah, my boy got beat out by some niger for the college team, all because the feds stuck their noses into things.” 

“Shit like that is why we’re all here,” the first bastard said.  “It’s why we back the blue, and why we champion Ellington.  He’s one of the few still fighting the good fight for the honest American.” 

“Too true,” she agreed, swallowing heavily. 

“Alight, here,” the man said, handing her his own badge.  “Be quick about it, it isn’t long before admittance starts.” 

“I know, that’s why I’m pre-gaming it,” she said. 

The second guy snorted.  “Definitely a college kid.  I’m so glad to see you’re working hard to better yourself, even with all the disadvantages that come with being white these days.”

Ashe was so glad she wasn’t a dog, because all those whistles would have deafened her.  She accepted the key gratefully, and made her way inside at a brisk pace.  It worked like a charm, the scanner letting her in with a simple swipe.  Surprisingly, there wasn’t anyone inside watching the door.  Just to be safe, she actually went straight for the nearby bathroom. 

She hadn’t brought her usual hip pouch, it was too distinguishable to her parents if they happened to look over the security footage.  Instead, she had a small sling bag to store anything she might need.  She’d brought a fresh burner phone with her, a brand new top of the line thing that she’d spent nearly two hours setting up to look like the phone of a good Patriot girl in the event someone looked over her shoulder.

She took the phone out, then checked the body camera software and confirmed it had been recording everything.  She’d triple checked it already, but it didn’t hurt to be extra sure that something hadn’t errored while she was running around trying to get a damn ID.  Thankfully, everything was in order so Ashe gathered her nerves and pressed on. 

Memorizing the layout only did her so much good given how generic all the back rooms were.  The hallways only had the standard emergency exit signs, which would be useful for when she was ready to get the hell out of the hive of scum and bigotry. 

The halls were surprisingly vacant, she half expected aides running to and fro with armfuls of documents or something.  That’s how it always was in the movies, but they needed the clutter to make things visually interesting.  Unfortunately, that also meant she had nobody to follow, and stood out as she walked along without direction. 

Three empty halls and somehow wandering into a damn mop closet later, she finally saw someone.  Unfortunately it was the Mayor himself talking to someone wearing a Patriot armband.  It took a moment for Ashe to place the face, then the blood drained from her own. 

Adrian Godrick.

Why the hell was the pastor of the national Patriots movement also at the damn rally? 

It felt like the universe was actively trying to spite her at the moment.  She took a few breaths to compose herself.  She was there working security, she didn’t need to be worried about them spotting her, and some nerves would even help sell things.  After all, it was a great honor to meet someone so important. 

Squaring her shoulders, she continued forward.  One of their own security personnel spotted her and moved to cover his charge, his sunglasses serving the same function as her own.  She nodded to him, stepping aside to give them as much clearance as possible. 

“I don’t care if bystanders get hurt, we need this to go right otherwise we might lose…” 

Ashe had to force herself to keep moving, the words of the Patriot leader rang in her ears as she kept going.  She didn’t have context, but she also didn’t see how that would help such a volatile phrase.  She wanted to double back, to try and hear more, but their security would be on her in an instant. 

Fuck it, that was the sort of shit she’d been looking for when she decided to break in.  It just wasn’t aimed at Ellington directly, just part of his power base.  She turned back around, pressing a finger to her ear as she hurried, hoping they would buy it as she hurried up to them again. 

“…next time, just get it done before the show starts,” Godrick said, gesturing at the demure aide who was nodding vigorously. 

Damn.  She’d missed the best of it.  The security moved to intercept her this time, and she slowed to a stop a few feet from them. 

“Sorry,” she said, glancing off to the side.  “Just got a report that a reporter was caught trying to smuggle in a few bugs.  I need to go relieve one of the guys that caught him while they deal with handing them off to the police.” 

Come on, please buy the lie… 

“Nothing came over our feed,” the observant security guy said. 

“We’re running three channels, I have my radio set to prioritize,” she said easily, recalling the lesson her mom had given her on codes and channels.  “You’re probably locked on channel one.” 

The guy hesitated for a moment, then pulled his radio free from his belt and checked it. 

“So I am,” he said, replacing it.  “You may proceed.” 

Ashe nodded.  “You’re just doing your job, same as us.” 

She made sure to give them a wide enough berth again, just to show she wasn’t even attempting something that might be considered suspicious.  What little she managed to gather wasn’t the greatest, but she’d been seen by enough people that she was now officially nervous.  Worse, she knew her disguise wouldn’t hold up for thirty seconds if Ellington himself got within a dozen feet of her. 

It was time to put some distance between herself and the important bastards. 

Picking up her pace, she opted to skip the entrance she used the first time, better to not be asked questions by the people she borrowed the ID from if she tried to circle around outside.  Worse, they would be getting suspicious about what was taking her so long.  A bad shit only explained so much of an absence before they might send someone to check on her. 

Hearing voices ahead, she forced herself to slow to a less hurried pace, doing her best to appear to be a bored security staffer as she rounded the next corner.  It was a smaller group, all of whom froze when they saw her.  Her instincts screamed that something was off about the whole situation. 

“Can I help you?” she asked, trying to project authority while wishing she had a gun. 

Two of the men glanced at one another, and one shrugged. 

“We’re here to escort Ellington,” he said.  “We were told to wait here for his arrival.” 

That was easily one of the worst lies that Ashe had ever heard, but she couldn’t let it show.  If they were there to start some shit, it sure as hell wasn’t her problem and she had no intention to make it her problem.  She doubted that they were actually there for Theodore Ellington, because nobody actually trying something would actually tell the truth.

“Whatever,” she said.  “They aren’t paying me to babysit.  Just don’t do anything stupid that makes me have to do my job.” 

She turned and went down a different corridor, wondering if they would end up making the news with whatever bullshit prank they thought would be funny.  She finally found an exit and was just about to open it when the door swung open, hitting her extended arm.  Pain shot through her wrist, and even her numb nerves flared angrily. 

“Oh shit, sorry,” a familiar voice said. 

Absently, she rubbed her wrist before glancing up to level a glower on the impatient asshole.  Ashe was surprised to see Jason Ellington standing over her, offering a helping hand up.  Well, asshole might have been a bit unkind, but it still qualified given the fact he had knocked her over. 

“Just be more patient next time,” she said.  “No need to run someone over just because you’re late meeting some friends.” 

“What?” he said, hoisting her up.  “I’m not meeting anyone other than my dad.” 

Cold realization settled in her gut and she wanted to string together every curse she knew, because now it was her problem.  She might not give a single shit about Theodore Ellington, but Jason was a different story.  She could never allow harm to come to Crystal’s little brother, even through inaction to maintain her cover. 

Before she could voice her concerns, the hammering of feet drew their eyes down the hall where the group from earlier caught up with them. 

“There he is,” a very familiar bald headed man said, drawing a gun.  “Grab him!” 

Fuck.

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