Hydra

"This mission is hard enough without you complicating things," Kennedy snapped at Logan.

     "You're the one who wanted to bring me along!" Logan pointed out.

     "Stupid as ever, hoping you'll change," she muttered just loud enough for him to hear.

     "Can't argue that you're stupid as ever," Logan grinned, and Kennedy gave him The Look. "Ease up, Golden Girl."

     "I am eased up. More eased up than my older sister Monarch, anyway," she corrected. But Logan noticed the the tight line of her lips and the redness of her golden eyes.

     He shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

     Logan and Kennedy's relationship was a unique one--raz on each other in their spare time, work together like the well-oiled gears in a clock in serious times. The Logan, Kennedy, and Kennedy's twin brother, Shawn, had all grown up together. But theirs was not the relationship of siblings. Kennedy and Shawn hadn't spent quite that much time at the Robertson household, half the time being with their older brother, Viceroy, on his ship, the Retaliation. Kennedy and Logan both had...feelings...for each other, but neither showed it.

     Kennedy raised an eyebrow, but refused to look at him as she deftly steered the ship towards the planet's surface.

     "Soooo..." Logan drew the word out, "what exactly is this contract you excepted? And I'm assuming you told my mom what was going on, right? Because if not, she's going to freak."

     "Of course I told her!"

     Now it was Logan's turn to raise an eyebrow as he folded his arms over his chest. "Really?"

     "Okay, not exactly to her face," Kennedy admitted, her gaze sliding away.

     "Like I thought," Logan grinned smugly.

     "Aw, shut up," she smiled, shaking her head. "Okay, this is what's going on. I'm assuming you know who Hydra was in mythology?"

     "I think so. You cut one of her heads, two more grow back.Or did you want the terrorist organization that's in..."

     "What part of mythology, Logan, did you not catch?"

     "The mythology part, I guess," he responded, grinning once again.

     "You grin too much," Kennedy noted.

     Logan shrugged. "It makes the chicks go crazy. They can't resist it."

     "Anyway, there's a new organization that's risen seemingly overnight."

     "How long ago?" Logan questioned.

     "Uhh...a year ago. But the sudden appearance was surprising. Most organizations as powerful as Hydra take quite a while to build up. Many have tried to take Hydra out, but the more we attack it..."

     "The more powerful it becomes," Logan broke in, realization dawning on his face.

     "Exactly," Kennedy nodded. "So...we're going to scout it out, analyzing every detail, every piece of data we can get."

     Logan nodded. "Okay. How long did you tell my mother that I'd be away?"

     "A month." Kennedy didn't look up.

     Once again, Logan crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

     "Okay, okay! I was very vague on the subject! Anywhere from a week to three years!" Kennedy burst out at last.

     Logan blinked. "I'm not spending three years with you."

     Kennedy smiled sweetly. "Sorry, bud." Then she leaned in conspiratorially. "Between you and me, I know you like me. And, you won't have to spend the entire time with me. Shawn's coming along, too."

     Logan liked Shawn, but he felt slightly disappointed.

     "Okay. And who heads up Hydra, or do we not know?" he asked.

     Kennedy didn't answer for quite a while, and Logan almost started to think she hadn't heard him, even with her unbelievable hearing.

     "I'm so sorry," Kennedy whispered sadly. 

     "Huh?" Logan questioned, confused.

     Kennedy turned away from Logan for a moment before answering. "I should have told you sooner. It's... Jenny."

     "Hang on--Jenny as in my brother Chris' crush who was one of the original team members of the Shadow Elite and was killed in a space ship explosion?" Logan questioned.

     She nodded. "Apparently she survived. Had no memory of her life before the explosion, fell in with the wrong people...and now she's operating Hydra."

     "What?! But Jenny was so...sweet!"

     Once again, Kennedy nodded. "I know! I don't understand it either. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before we left, but I was afraid you wouldn't want to come..."

     Logan didn't respond. He was too stunned. Jenny was still a live!

     "It's okay," he said at last. "And we stick with the plan. And if it comes down to it...we kill Jenny."