The brief incident in the alley didn't dampen anyone's appetite. Given their special status, all they had to do was explain the situation to the police—no need to go down to the station and file a report.
Ferede hadn't been wrong: that alley really was a shortcut. Over lunch, the team even joked about the two pranksters—serves them right for picking the wrong people to mess with. If it had been civilians, they might've pulled it off. But they just had to target a group of CTU agents out for lunch.
Thinking about the kind of treatment those two morons would get at the precinct, the team couldn't help but laugh. Some kids really needed a hard lesson.
After lunch, the afternoon went as usual. As Omega's commander, Owen oversaw the training of squads A, B, and C. Overall, things were going well. The spots left by Ferede and Kasibayev were quickly filled by existing team members.
Owen also ran a joint training session with the main team. Though both new recruits were highly skilled, it would still take time to build the right chemistry.
After the session, as Owen walked out of the training area with his gear, Becky was already waiting at the door.
"Becky, you waiting for me?" Ferede rushed over eagerly.
She shoved him aside without even looking and addressed Owen, who was walking up. "Chief, I've picked up some intel you might want to see..."
Owen left with her, leaving Ferede standing there awkwardly in the breeze.
"What intel?" Owen asked once they were back in his office.
"Ten minutes ago, our filtering system flagged a phone call. Someone mentioned the Four Horsemen—and also White Mask."
Owen immediately perked up. Since the White House incident, the investigation into White Mask had stalled. The organization clearly existed but had vanished like a ghost. No intelligence agency across the country could find even a scrap of a clue. Now suddenly, they were back on the radar.
"Who made the call?"
"A European journalist."
Owen frowned. In the U.S., journalists could be a pain—everywhere, constantly waving the flag of free speech while digging up all kinds of dirt.
"This one's a hardliner," Becky added. "Frequently exposes government secrets, and unfortunately, his sources are usually solid. A lot of people trust him."
Owen rubbed his temple. The public knew about White Mask because of the White House attack, but the Four Horsemen was still classified. If this journalist mentioned both names, he either had inside information—or direct ties to White Mask. Either way, it needed serious attention.
"Where is he?"
"Los Angeles."
"Contact the LA CTU. Have them keep him under surveillance. I'm heading there myself."
Becky nodded and left to make arrangements. Owen told his secretary to prepare a private flight. Conveniently, Monica also wanted to return to LA, so they could go together.
That afternoon, the two arrived at the airport. No one expected them to move so fast. Members of the main squad came to see Monica off, but the mood wasn't sad—she was only staying in LA for a while and would eventually return.
A few hours later, their plane landed at LAX. With the private jet, everything moved quickly—minimal procedures, on-demand service. As they exited through the private terminal, they saw a small group waiting. Leading the pack was a woman in sunglasses. Who else could it be but ASH?
"ASH! Hotshot! Castle!" Monica called out, running forward to hug each of them. She had missed them terribly.
"Oh, IQ, I heard you're gonna be a mom now. Owen, looks like your aim's pretty accurate!" Hotshot teased.
Owen laughed and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder before pulling him into a hug.
"Guys..." he greeted, hugging the rest of them. Though Owen hadn't been with A-Team for long, they'd been through a lot—Alex's bounty, the B-Team massacre, the injuries to every A-Team member, and the rescue mission in the Colombian cartel base to save Monica. Bonds forged in blood and fire.
The reunion was warm and full of jokes as they walked to the parking lot. Tony had sent a car to pick them up, but Owen had asked them not to drive onto the tarmac—just wait outside the airport.
"Guys, I have something to handle first. I'll catch up with you later. Take care of Monica for me."
"Don't worry, I'll personally swat away any wannabe Romeos. Anyone who tries to flirt with her gets a boot to the ass," someone joked.
A-Team waved as Owen left, getting into the CTU car. The two groups split up.
The agent picking him up was named Lekar, a former field agent Owen already knew, though not too well.
"Long time no see, Lekar."
"Yeah, it's been a while, Owen."
"What's the situation?"
"Captain Joshua and his team are tailing the journalist. So far, nothing unusual. Want to go to CTU first or straight to the target?"
"Let's head to CTU."
Lekar nodded and drove toward the Los Angeles CTU branch. Since the journalist was already under surveillance, Owen wasn't in a rush. He figured he'd stop by CTU first and catch up with old colleagues.
At the CTU parking lot, the same two security guards from before were at the gate. They recognized Owen and greeted him warmly. Lekar swiped his badge and let them in.
Inside, not much had changed—same layout, mostly the same people. Owen immediately ran into familiar faces.
"Owen?"
"Hey, man! How've you been?"
The greetings came one after another. Owen smiled and responded to each one.
"Neymar, looks like you've been skipping gym—starting to see a belly there."
"Lisa, you're still as beautiful as ever."
"Hey, Chloe—come here, give me a hug."
He hugged Chloe, his closest friend during his CTU days in LA. She was basically his equivalent of Becky. After hugging her, he looked up and saw Tony on the second floor. With a quick word to the others, Owen headed upstairs.
Tony felt a little emotional seeing Owen again. He remembered when the guy was just a rookie cop. Jack had taken a liking to him, brought him into CTU, and then he'd proved himself time and again. He'd become Jack's trusted right hand, led the rapid-response team, saved the President, survived the White House attack, and now commanded Omega. His rank now was second only to Jack—higher than any of the regional CTU directors.
"Tony, how've you been?"
Owen greeted him first. He never had any airs about him, and neither did most field operatives. Seeing that Owen didn't flaunt his title, Tony quickly adjusted his own demeanor.
"Same old, same old—just keeping tabs on people and making sure they don't stir up trouble."
Tony laughed at himself. The LA and New York branches were the largest in the country besides HQ, and Tony had done a decent job—no major issues so far.
"What's the situation with the journalist?"
After a bit of small talk, Owen got to the point.
"Joshua's team is tailing him. Field team just finished bugging his apartment. No unusual behavior so far. Chloe's monitoring all his communications."
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