Today was the day. Today, November 26 was officially Jessime Beaumont's birthday, the very day he would be eligible to gain access to the will left behind by his father. Today was the day Annabelle's mission would be over. As soon as the item was in her possession, today was the day Annabelle was to forget about Jessime Beaumont, report to the chief and put the mission behind her. Move on to the next, like the robot she was. Today was the day everything ended.

At least, it should be.

Instead, getting the will wasn't the first thing on Anna's mind. Instead of securing it as quickly as she could, she was laughing, walking hand in hand with the very same person she should be leaving behind. She was smiling in his face, giggling like a schoolgirl behind her hand at the joke he cracked. She was turning to look behind her, smiling at her best friend, who was holding hands with her boyfriend. She was putting all her responsibilities behind her, to have fun with her friends, with the love of her life, for it might just be the very last time.

Jessi, Dan and Mina were just as happy. They worried not, for Anna had already drowned all their concerns for Angela with lies that the NPA would be taking care of it. They didn't ask any other questions. They trusted her, trusted that what she said was true and soon, Angela would be safe and sound in her own bed. So they walked happily, blissfully oblivious to how bad the situation had gotten. Anna wanted to pretend everything was okay just as much but she couldn't let it show how much it wasn't.

So, they've decided to spend Jessi's birthday forgetting the fact that dangerous men were after him and hanging out at the movies. It was simple, but that was all he wanted; to spend the day with his friends and his girlfriend. No one said nay, so that was what happened.

Everything was going just fine. There was no sight of any of the Rebels, and for a while, Anna even managed to forget about her outburst in Thomas' office. Whenever she thought about it, she got angry all over again. She was already beginning to grow used to such odd emotions but she understood Thomas' shock. She never shouted before. She never displayed any sort of emotion in front of him before so his reaction was warranted. She just hoped he didn't decide to reprimand her for her rudeness.

And so, just like that, half the day passed. By the time it was time to get the will, it was almost three in the afternoon.

"Is everything going to be fine?" Mina inquired as Anna dropped them off at home. Anna sat beside her, waiting for Jessi to come out. Behind them, Dan clanged around in the kitchen.

"It should be."

"You sure you don't need us to be there?"

Smirking lightly, Anna looked over at Mina. "Why would you need to be there?"

Mina looked away, blinking as she thought. "I don't know. Moral support? I know this thing is what everyone is after him for. He might need more people there."

"What? You're going to help me protect him?"

"Of course! Roger turned me into a badass just like you!"

That made Anna laugh. "I'm sure," she answered. "But don't worry about it. I'll be fine on my own. I've been doing well all this time, haven't I?"

"Yeah, whatever." Mina scooted closer. "What about Angela? Are they going to go for her tonight?"

"Yeah," Anna lied smoothly, looking away. "It's easier to infiltrate at night. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not, I'm not. I just wanna know the details. Like, how are they going to do it? Are you going to do it too?"

"No, I have to take care of Jessi, remember?"

"Oh come on, Anna! It would be so cool if you rushed in there and saved the day, don't you think?"

"Yeah, too bad real life isn't like a book. Jessi!" she bellowed, rising to her feet. "Aren't you ready?"

"Slow your roll, woman!" he barked from the guest room. "This kind of thing takes time!"

"Well, hurry! We don't have all day."

"Okay, okay." Jessi came into the room, fixing the collar of his pristine white shirt. A dark blue jacket wrapped comfortably around his shoulders, matching the blue pants perfectly. He left the top two buttons of his shirt open, pushing his hands into his pockets as he smirked at Anna. "How do I look?"

Anna only gave a swift nod, even though her stomach clenched at how good looking he was in a suit. "Good enough. Let's go already."

"Psh. Tough woman. Let's go then."

"Good luck man," Dan called from behind as they left the apartment. Anna waited until she heard the locks being activated before she continued out.

"How's your wound?" Anna asked Jessi.

"Still hurts like a bitch, what do you think?"

"Hey, no need to get snippy with your doctor," she replied blandly.

"Can I get snippy with my girlfriend? It won't kill you to tell me I look good, won't it?"

"That's weird. I didn't know you were this insecure."

Jessi sighed as he threw the keys at her. He slid into the passenger seat, waited for her to start the car up before he gave her a pointed look. "Okay, sue me. I'm insecure. You should make me feel better about myself."

"Trying to take the quick way out?"

Jessi sighed and Anna hid her laugh. "Ah, you're a tough one."

"Just now noticing that?"

"Okay, fine. It's no worries though. I know I look good just as much as I know that my girlfriend looks smoking."

She allowed the smile to show when he grabbed her hand and kissed it, grinning at her. Yes, this was what she liked. When they were happy like this, caught up in the moment. She almost wished they were headed somewhere happy, where they could both enjoy themselves. But the other half of her was glad they were finally about to end everything. All she had to was collect the item in the will, hand it over to the NPA and everything would be over. As for her life after that, she wasn't sure what she would do. The NPA was all she knew but she knew they wouldn't tolerate her in a relationship.

For the rest of the ride to the lawyer's office, Jessi wouldn't stop cracking jokes. Once, he even managed to coerce a laugh out of Anna. They fell silent, however, when Anna pulled up in front of the lawyer's office.

She exited first, looked around to make sure the coast was clear. Then Jessi exited and they both made their way inside.

The office was small and cute. A secretary ushered her inside to Benoit Beaumont's lawyer, an aging man with a good head of hair on his head. He was a quick man, one that wasted little time seating them, going over the will then handing them an unmarked box. According to the lawyer, even he did not know what the box contained, and so it wasn't detailed in the will. When they left, all Anna and Jessi knew that Jessi was ten billion dollars and one box richer.

"What do you think is inside?" Jessi asked as soon as the doors closed. Anna started the car before answering.

"If I had any idea, I would have said something already."

"I wonder if it's bombs." Jessi held the box up to his ear and shook it. Anna shot him an alarmed glance.

"If you think it's bombs, why would shake it? Are you crazy?"

Jessi was ignoring her. "It doesn't sound like bombs..."

"We'll open it when we reach home. Stop shaking it, for God's sake."

"I'm curious! I mean, aren't you? You're entire mission was centred around this one box. You have to be curious to know what's so important about what's in here."

"It's not my mission to be curious."

"Really?" The box momentarily forgotten, Jessi turned to her. "You mean, you never once wondered about the reason behind this mission? Never once wondered what was in the will?"

Anna shook her head. "Never."

"Never wondered about any mission?"

"Nope."

"Jesus, Anna. You've never been curious about anything, have you?"

For a moment, Anna had to think about it. The answer was coming out before she realized. "I guess I haven't. I just take my missions without any word. It never occurred to me to try to think about the reason behind them."

"You're the weirdest person I've ever met."

"Stop talking about it. You're giving me a headache."

"Okay, okay." He sat back in the chair, but his eyes never stopped shifting over to her. Anna ignored it. The headache was beginning to fade as soon as she took her mind off Jessi's words and focused on what she had to do now. Should she head straight to headquarters and hand it over, or should she wait it out a bit to see? Play it by ear? She knew that she should give it over right this instanr but she didn't like the fact that Thomas refused to retrieve Angela. It just didn't make any sense to her, and she was beginning to think that relying on them wasn't the best option. She should see all her choices first. Wait it out, yes, that was what she was going to do.

Mina was at the door to greet them when they returned. Her eyes bulged at the box in Jessi's hand and she instantly made a grab for it.

"Hello to you too," Jessi murmured while Anna locked up. Mina sent him a hasty wave over her shoulder, rushing over to Dan who sat in the couch watching TV.

"You know what's in it?" Dan asked excitedly.

Jessi came to sit with them. "Nope. Mom here wouldn't let me open it until we made it back."

Anna rolled her eyes. "It's safer that way. There could have been eyes on us."

"In the car?"

"Never let your guard down." She sat in the armchair. "Hand it over."

Mina pouted slightly as she passed the box over to Anna. Anna settled it into her lap, quickly reaching into her boot for her knife. She whipped it out and tore the tape on the box in one swift motion. She paused when everyone inched forward to get a peak. A slight smile itched at her lips.

"Back up, will you?"

No one moved. Anna huffed a laugh, tucked her knife back into her boots. She flipped the box open. Inside were a few tapes, a tiny notebook and what looked like a letter sitting on top. She set the box down on the coffee table for everyone to see. She made a grab for the letter first. The words 'To my son' was written on top.

"Jessi, this is for you," she said, handing the letter over to him.

Jessi took the letter. He had the paper out in no time, unfolded it to read. "'Dear Jessime'," he began. "'I don't know how to tell you this. If you're reading this, it's because I died. They finally came for me, but I made sure to take extra precaution before they took my life.'"

He paused, swallowing. Catching Anna's eyes of encouragement, he continued. "'I suppose I should start from the very beginning. In 2010, I was given the opportunity to invest in an invention I believed would change the fate of France. The inventor was a genius, his invention even more so, and I knew that, if used in the right way, it could really benefit the country. I invested much of my money into, helped out in every way I could. When the invention was finished, it was time to test it.'"

"'It was a chip capable rewriting a person's every thought, every memory, making them like a hollow shell. It also makes them incredibly susceptible to mental persuasion, like hypnotism. If the chip was successful, we would be able to create a killing machine for France.'"

"'I never oversaw the testing process but the inventor – his name was Francois – he took care of everything. The first test was a failure. It's sad to say that the test subject died. And more test subjects after that died, they rejected the chip. It wasn't until the last test subject did we finally perfect it.'"

"'Sadly, I didn't realize just how many lives were lost testing the chip. Men were coming after both Francois and I, after word got out that such a thing was being invented. Everyone wanted in on it. They wanted it for their own country and had I not hid it away, I feel as if it would have started a war. When I hid the chip away, the French Rebels were furious. They believed it would be a turning point for France, and that we would refuse to give it up was unforgivable. They killed Francois, and I fear I will be next.'"

"'For her protection, I sent the test subject away. When I sent her to America, I managed to secure an uneasy truce with them. Her name was Gabrielle Trainor. Her parents are American and she was also a citizen. She was taken to be a subject during a family trip in France. I found out about it later, but ... I couldn't send her back to them. I let her family search high and low for her, until a full year passed and they finally gave up and went home to Miami. I only sent her to New York because I didn't know what else to do with her. She was proof that the chip was a success, but she might just be what caused war amongst countries. I was terrified, for both my life and yours. I'm sorry, Jessime. I hope you can forgive me. As I write this letter, today marks her sixth month with the NPA. I want you to find her Jessi, find her and tell her the truth. I don't think I can bear the guilt knowing that she's living her life that way because of what I did, even in death. She's no longer Gabriel Trainor though. To put her to use, America renamed her. They called her Annabelle, the perfect killing machine.'"