I've been told many things in my life, a great deal of which tends to be rather contradictory. You can do anything you like usually ended up followed by You will certainly not be doing that. I learned quickly that the truth is often found in the rejection, which I have also had more than enough of. Unfortunately for those who think they can manipulate their words to keep me clueless and doing what they want, I know better and the reality of it is, I am much to intelligent for them fool like that even if I didn't know better. My parents of course know I'm intelligent or my father does at least, my mother took off when I was young for reasons my father would never reveal, assuming I'd just accept that she had left. So mother aside, unless my father is brain dead he knows I'm intelligent since he had to authorize me being bumped up several grades. By several I mean I'd graduated high school before I was even thirteen so I would have to think he knows I'm not naïve enough to believe his lies. To a point, his lies and secrets are the reason that I am where I am, that and his brother. While most everyone else has tried to force normalcy on me Cheese, as I call him, has been training me to maximize my potential, yet another reason he and my father don't get on very well. Father thinks I should keep a low profile and stay out of any sort of danger, most would call that a protective father not wanting people to use his daughter for their benefit, but Cheese had let me in on the truth of my mother's departure. In her own words I've got big plans for the world, not the least of which can be perpetuated by this family along with some other things, the gist of which being she couldn't plot global domination with her family. She was also another reason I listened to Cheese when he told me to have higher aims in life than a façade of normalcy. I didn't want to be a scientist or a doctor or any of those things. Yeah they could save lives, but they were too small, I wanted something that made a bigger impact. I wanted to stop bad guys and not on the level of police officer, I wanted to utilize my abilities so I had initially decided on throwing my lot in with the FBI, with say counterintelligence or counterterrorism and perhaps put some of my degrees to work with behavioral analysis. It put my mind to use and it was stopping bad guys so really it was a win-win and Cheese thought it was a great idea. The FBI was more than willing to let me in, which tends to happen when you have such a prodigious educational record. The problem was, as my father had always feared, my sort of skills got attention from all over the place including places even higher than the FBI. Father was less than thrilled and flat out said that if I joined the FBI or anything like it, I needn't bother coming back. Being as set in my ways as I am, I packed my things, told my father to go to hell and took off to start training, leaving him to believe I was off to join the FBI like I'd planned.

Sure the FBI was a great opportunity and what I wanted to do but when I was face with an organization that did almost the same thing on a much larger scale the choice was easy, the training not so much. If you're going to fight crime on a global scale then you aren't just going to learn a little hand to hand and work with a Glock. Even with my abilities I was intimidated by the training. The combat training was extensive and way more intense than anything I'd ever worked on with Cheese, likewise with shooting. I'd handled guns before, even tried my hand at archery which hadn't been something I'd taken to as well as other things. My trainers were impressed by how well I took to everything and by my enthusiasm. Normalcy was never a hope for any girl that got excited by assault rifles and rocket launchers and especially not when said girl asked if she'd get to do any of that bad ass shit they did in the James Bond and Mission Impossible movies. After I'd trained with just about anything and everything you could imagine it was time for my first mission, the one that as far as I concerned would make or break my new position. I'd have to prove that I could handle myself, alone, and do the job proficiently even being more than a decade younger than almost everyone else. Technically speaking I wasn't going to be solo, because of the nature of the mission and what I would need to do I would be meeting my partner shortly before I arrived on location but he was from a different organization or something along those lines, I was just told that the group calling us in was supplying my partner so it was a two for one mission. I could prove I didn't need other agents with me while still showing that I was capable of effectively working with a partner. Going in to the mission I must admit I was feeling more than a little confident, I was more concerned about whether my partner would mess things up on their end than I was with how I would do myself. On the ride to the designated meeting spot, I read over my briefing packet a few times to get a feel for what I needed to do. Unfortunately we hadn't been given any information regarding my partner and as such hadn't given them any information on me.

The mission itself seemed fairly straight forward, there was an underground organization operating out of a quaint little cul-de-sac right in the middle of suburbia. Reports and initial surveillance seemed to show it as a wannabe home grown terrorist cell intent on brainwashing members of the community to carry out their plans before spreading out nationally and even internationally. The particular cul-de-sac they were located in was practically an exclusive gated community that was very tricky to get in to if you didn't know what you were doing. The cell appeared to be small time, even without intervention it was unlikely they'd get far but to keep everything out of the new and prevent a panicked community my partner and I were to pose as a married couple, infiltrate the cell and shut them down. Our covers were already established and solid and our new 'home' had been set up for us. After the meeting we would drive to the house and start work. The posing as a married couple was something I knew would need the most work, I was young and not sure my youth would be a good bait for the cell but I also knew how to manipulate my looks to add some years on so as long as my 'husband' wasn't like in his forties I didn't think I'd have to many issues working that angle. I did however wish I knew a bit more about where the agency we were helping came from because I'd never heard of them, then again I'd never heard of the people I was now working for either but when you've got someone as backup, you want to know you can rely on them as well as the people they're working for. We arrived before I'd even realized we were getting close and as the vehicle stopped I put everything back in my bag before getting out. I wanted to protect people in a big way and now it was time to prove that I could do it, no more staged scenarios where no one would get hurt if I messed up, this was the real deal. Outside I looked around, observing the area and the building I was to go in. It seemed to be a small old factory or warehouse and would serve its purpose well enough. No sooner than I stepped inside I heard my transportation leave, continuing inside I again looked around. Typical metal beams and such up above, a room up top that was presumably the office of the manager or whoever was running the place. The ground level showed that the small time facility had at one point doubled as both a factory and its warehouse, quite a bit of the old machinery set up and storage areas were still intact. The one thing I looked for but didn't see was my partner, I hadn't seen another vehicle when we'd arrived though it could be around the other side, but the building was silent of all human noise aside from my own. I found myself a bit irritated, I'd arrived right on time, ready to get serious about this but my partner was nowhere to be found, either that or they were deliberately hiding from me which was just as annoying. I couldn't very well contact my superiors and tell them that my supposed partner was nowhere to be found but I also couldn't stand around forever waiting on them. A quick check of the cell phone I'd been given showed that I had a message, which was almost odd considering that I hadn't heard it go off. The message was a brief update containing the name of my partner. Seemed like a waste of a message but now I knew to be irritated with this Mark Francis. I wasn't sure if the surname was a cover or not, but it was terrible regardless and it made me glad my cover wasn't pairing that with my first name. Sick of waiting around, I made to go up to the old office and look outside for a car, given the stairs were still as sturdy as they looked. With a final sweeping glance downstairs, I turned to make my way upstairs only to find a man now leaning against them and I was immediately wondering how he'd gotten there without me hearing him and whether this was my partner or someone else.

"Cat I presume?" The man said, more of a statement than a question. "I was starting to wonder if you'd ever do more than stand there," He added with a laugh, fueling my temper.

"Which must make you Mark, and considering the seriousness of the situation one would think you've have been waiting here on time and ready to go!" I snapped at him

"Calm down kitten, I got here before you did; I've just been up top having a look around while I waited. I figured you'd have checked upstairs rather than waiting round down here."

"Do not call me kitten!" I responded with a glare. I would get stuck with someone that would fool around. I took a few moments to size him up; he didn't appear all that much older than me which took me by surprise since I'd thought for sure he would be older. His brown hair was cut shorter and I couldn't but notice his absolutely stunning blue eyes. He was wearing casual street clothes like I was, jeans and a t-shirt that would be completely typical of something you'd wear while moving in to a new place but showed off fit physique, especially his arms, which was where I had to stop myself. It wouldn't do to stand here ogling the man when as far as I was concerned we were already behind schedule. "If you're quite done we really ought to get moving. I want to have a look around the area when we get there and it'll be a lot harder to do once it starts getting dark." I said calmly, still wondering how he'd been so quiet approaching me and why he'd need to look around from higher up but the mission was priority

"All work and no play," Mark teased "The cars are out the side door," He added, waiting until I walked past him and the stairs to continue with me. I rather wanted to hit him but there was something ultimately charming about his joking and I'd have to live with it regardless. Noting the way he held the door open for me, I decided that at least he wasn't a jack ass. The vehicles in question were a non-descript beige SUV and a dark blue sports car. All bases had certainly been covered when it came to nailing our cover as a suburban couple, though was a bit envious that he'd get to drive the sports car. Sticking my bag on the passenger seat of the SUV, I glanced back to Mark only to see that he was already in his car waiting. It looked for a second like he was staring back up at the building which I found odd, but got in my car regardless and allowed him to lead the way still a bit confused by the entire thing. By profiling standards and going by a run of the mill individual, his behavior would indicate suspicion but at the same time we weren't really run of the mill either.