Chapter 1  

the System 

I waited for the new recruit impatiently and checked my watch. I was at a cafe with a cup of coffee. The cafe was quaint and quiet with almost no one around. I fingered my gun which was in the holster at my side. It was a small pistol. I was dressed in civilian clothes with my brunette hair waving in the wind at shoulder length. I was wearing a black t-shirt with skinny cut jeans and a pair of tennis shoes.I scanned the area around me, always on the lookout for the guy. 

        Eventually, a man walked up to me. He wore a midnight blue jacket and pants. His hair was covering his left eye, and was white with an electric blue streak that went from where the eye would be to the back of his head. He looked nervous as he walked up to me. His head was tilted down, and I couldn’t look him in the eye. “Um, hi. Are you who I’m supposed to be meeting up with?” He murmured out, barely audible. 

     “Depends, what's your name?” I asked, trying to look him in the eyes. 

            Instead of responding, he held out a card, still not looking you in the eye. It had his face on the card, as well as the S.I.G.N. logo. Written next to the logo was the name Owen. 

           I smirked and shoved my hands into my pockets. “So you're the new recruit right? I'm Agent Adams. I've been selected to help you introduce you to S.I.G.N and be your partner for as long as you're with us.”  I stepped towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can trust me I'm not going to hurt you. Here I'll even prove it.” I said pulling out my card from my wallet. It has my face on it with the S.I.G.N logo but instead of saying just my name it reads Agent Adams: Codename Dancer. 

He immediately shrugs your hand off of his shoulder, and takes a step backwards. “Sorry, but I don’t like touch. What’s the codename for?” 

            I glanced around the area we were in and lowered my voice. “In S.I.G.N my name is Dancer because I'm known for being able to enter a situation and move fluidly through the situation and take care of our enemies and come out unscathed.” 

“Oh. Then why am I your partner? I still don’t know why I was chosen for this.” 

            I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “We saw your potential with short swords and thought you'd be a good asset to S.I.G.N we also know that you're pretty smart. You have almost all the qualities S.I.G.N looks for: intelligence, quick thinking, and discipline. Of course if you don't want to then I'll just be out of your hair. With the exception that you never tell anyone about us.” I said, taking a sip of my coffee. 

“Well… I don’t have better options at the moment… so I’ll join.” 

           “Alrighty then. I should inform you that once you join you're a permanent member and we can call on you at any time.” I glanced at him before pulling out my car keys and downing the rest of my coffee. I stood there waiting for a response as I aimlessly twirled my keys around my finger. 

          “Um, ok.” He says, still not looking you in the eyes. 

¨Come with me.¨ I said walking off and walking around to the other side and grabbing the door to the passenger side. He looks at the car for a second, than hesitantly gets in. 

          I walk to the other side of the car and get in but don't put my keys in the ignition I glance at him. I can tell he is tense and nervous. I sigh. “Look, I'm sorry about this. I'm probably freaking you out. Where do you want me to drop you off? I'll take you home.” I flicked a card into his lap which has my phone number on it. “Sorry for bothering you. Give me a call when you're ready to talk.”  I then put the keys in the ignition and start to drive. 

He looks surprised for a moment, then looks away again. “Um, isn’t there a building or something I need to go to? To get registered and stuff?”

         “Yeah but it can wait. I'll talk to my superiors and take care of it.” 

“But… we should just get it over with.” 

            I sighed and drove into the parking lot of a Walmart and parked and then looked at him. “Listen, I can tell you're freaked out. Why don't we just wait a couple days until you're ready to talk with me. When you are, we can go get lunch or something.” I finished looking out the window for a minute. 

            “Waiting will only make it worse.” He muttered out as he looked out the window. 

             “Alright.” I said starting up the car again and heading to HQ. “But tell me about yourself. How old are you?” 

             He holds out his hands, and signals nineteen with them. 

             “Oh cool. I'm twenty three. Go ahead and ask me anything you want to know about me.” I said stopping at a red light and giving him a smile. 

             He thinks for a moment, then just shakes his head. “… I don’t have any questions.” 

               “Oh ok. Are you hungry? We have some time before we have to head back.” He looks at me for a brief moment, then nods his head. 

                “Alright then.” I glanced at the clock on my dash. It was about 3:00. “Well where do you want to eat?” 

               He shrugs. “I don’t know a lot of restaurants.” 

              “You like ramen?” He shrugs, then nods his head.  I pulled up into a Japanese restaurant and shoved my keys into my pocket before getting out. I waited for him and then asked for a table for the two of us. Once we were seated I smiled at him for a moment. ¨Don´t worry about money order whatever you want. You can trust me.¨ 

            He looks at you for a moment, then orders a large soda. I ordered regular ramen and some water. ¨So what do you want to know about S.I.G.N?¨

“I just want to sign up and stop stalling on it.” 

I glance away for a minute and stand up. ¨Alright let's go.¨ I said, slapping some money down on the table. 

He walks out shortly afterwards drinking the soda he ordered. 

About fifteen minutes later we arrived. I got out of the car and looked around for a minute then pressed a button and went down the stairs that followed. Soon we arrived at a large metal door and I bent down and scanned my retina and pressed my hand to a scanner. 

¨Welcome back Agent Adams.¨ A voice said but it sounded like it came from everywhere at once.

¨Thanks AXIS it´s good to be back.¨ I said as the door opened and I motioned for him to go through. 

¨Boss is waiting for you in the main room.¨ AXIS said. 

I walked through the halls acknowledging several nods from the other agents not stopping until we got to a door I grabbed my card and scanned it and walked through. The room was large and spacious with a big desk in the middle and two chairs Agent Whitlock sat in the main chair and acknowledged me with a nod. 

¨Hello there, I assume your´e Owen right? I am Top Agent Whitlock, the head agent here. Tell me do you have any living relatives?¨ 

Owen jumps, then shakes his head no. 

¨I see. How's your living situation?¨ 

He shrugs after a slight pause. “Why does that matter?” 

“Because here at S.I.G.N we like to make sure our Agents are well taken care of. Do you need anything that we can provide besides the salary which is eighty thousand dollars a year?” 

Owen thinks for a moment, then shrugs. “I’m not sure if I need anything. Maybe another soda.” He mutters. 

“Dancer, what do you think?” 

“Well sir, I don't know much about him except for what we already know but I think he'll do well here with a bit of training.” 

            Top Agent Whitlock thinks about it for a moment then replies. “Okay then it's your job to train him, and take care of what he needs. Dismissed.” 

              I nudge Owen and we walk out the door and I breathe a huge sigh of relief. I then turn to Owen and give him a faint smile. “Well I guess I should show you around now. Before I forget, take this.” I said, handing him an earpiece. 

He looks at the earpiece for a moment before putting it in his pocket. “ Ok then… let's go.” 

        I moved past him and walked towards another door. I then swiped my card and we entered a large hallway with several other doors lining the sides of it. I opened a door to one of the rooms and stepped inside the doorframe. It was medium sized with a queen sized bed, a desk, computer and a small adjoining bathroom. “This is one of the rooms we provide here on base for our agents who choose to stay here instead. It makes it harder for their location to be tracked.” I closed the door and turned to the right and pressed my hand to a keypad in front of a large room.

            Inside the walls were lined with different types of weapons including guns, bows, katanas, short swords, and many more. “This is our armory, we are allowed to use any one that we like for missions and as a general rule try to at least have one or two on us at all times.”  

            I then turned to the left and we entered a room filled with tables and chairs and a small cooking area which had a metal screen pulled down over it just then. “This is the cafeteria you can choose to eat here or go out. Breakfast is at five, lunch at noon and dinner at six.” I then exited that room and went downstairs to a large basement which had a computer and a bunch of gym equipment and weights with some practice weapons lining the walls. “This is our workout room. It also doubles as a simulation room so we can accurately train for missions. Other than this that's about it. Let me know if you need anything.” He nods his head as he tries his best to not be seen by other people. 

              “Alright then you have my number call me if you want or need anything. I'm going out for a bit.” I said walking over to an elevator and pressing the up button.  “I'm going shopping, do you want anything?” He thinks for a moment, then points to a soda can on the ground near the trash. 

            “You do know that actual food is an option. Also are you staying here on base or do I need to take you home?” 

            “I guess I’m staying here, I think.” He half whispered out. 

             “What do you like to eat?” 

           “I don’t care. I’m not picky.” 

            “You wanna come with?” 

            “Go where? What store?” 

            “Wherever you want.” 

            “I don’t know a lot of stores near here. Or where here is.” 

           I tapped my watch and glanced at it. “Mm there's a Walmart, Kroger, or Target. You're not supposed to know where here is.” 

            He shrugs, then stretches for a second. “You can pick.” 

             “Let's go to Kroger.” I said stepping into the elevator as the doors opened. He nods his head, and steps into the elevator. Once we get up to the surface we exit through a couple doors and into a parking lot and I get in the car with Owen and we drive to Kroger. We walk in through the doors and I look at Owen for a moment. “Get whatever you want, it's on me.” 

             He nods his head, pulls his hood over his head, and walks into a random aisle. 

            I shrug and go to the grains area and grab a twelve pack of instant ramen and grab a couple boxes of tea. I then stepped into the cereal aisle looking for Owen. I find him as he leaves the aisle, with a box of granola bars in his hand. 

             “That all you want?” I ask. He jumps in surprise, then nods his head as he puts his hands in his pockets. 

               “Sorry didn't mean to scare you.” I said moving past him and going to the front of the store to pay. Once we reach the register a teenager scans each one and says. “That'll be 15.29 miss.” I glare at the guy and slap a twenty down on the counter. He gives me my change and we leave and head back to headquarters once there I start to head to my room but pause and turn to Owen. “Do you need me to show you to your room?”

He shakes his head no as he pulls a soda can from one of his pockets, and starts to drink it.

I stop mid step, and turn back to look at him. “Where did you get that from?”

He stops drinking, and starts to look more nervous than before. “Um, from the fridge?”

            “The only people who have fridges here on base are the people who are authorized to and that's mainly the cafeteria which is kept locked except during meals. I'll ask again where did you get that?” I said, crossing my arms. 

“Um, I… got it from the store.” 

           “You mean you stole it right? Because I'm pretty sure you don't have any money but correct me if I'm wrong.” I said leaning up against a wall. Instead of responding, Owen takes a small step backwards, and goes completely silent. 

          I sigh and shake my head. “Alright I'll let it slide this time. I know you're not used to having people provide for you and you’ve had to fend for yourself before, am I right?” He slightly nods his head, and takes another step backwards as his body tenses up a bit. I take a deep breath and give him a small smile. “It's okay I'm not mad at you. You don't have to be afraid here, I'll take care of you. I'm not going to hurt you.” I said turning away and walking down the hall to the third door and stopping and said. “Training is at six am tomorrow so get some rest.” I said before entering my room. 

           The next morning I got up and changed into my uniform and went to grab some breakfast. After I ate I went to the armory and went to a fairly large locker and unlocked it and then grabbed my bow and quiver full of arrows and went down the stairs to the training room. I checked my watch and it was five o fiveam  and I began a simulation and started shooting at targets. About an hour later I heard someone enter the room and I instinctively swung around to face them my bow trained on their face. It was Owen. I lowered my bow and pointed it to the ground. “Sorry about that. It's a habit. Next time knock. Have you stopped by the armory yet?” 

He shakes his head no, and pulls out a set of twin short swords from his back. They were in surprisingly good condition. The blades were almost pitch black, and had a slight curve to them.

           I smiled. “Well then I see you don't need any of our weapons. This is mine, it's not my main one but I like to use it for more covert operations so it's good for me to practice with.” I removed the arrow and held it out so he could see it better. It   

was almost all black with the exception of the highlights of navy blue that ran along it. The quiver on my back was the same but the arrows had different names on the sides of them. 

        “You can try it out if you want.” I said tossing him a pair of gloves. “You'll need those, it tends to chafe your hands after constantly shooting for a while.” I said stepping back to reveal a row of targets. 

He shakes his head. “I’m… I’m not good with ranged weapons.” 

            “That's alright. Since you're not so good at these, why don't we work with them for today?” I asked, giving him a reassuring smile. 

After a moment of hesitation, he puts his weapons away, hiding them like before, then nodding his head.  

         “Alright, do you want to use mine for today?” 

He shakes his head no, and grabs a practice one instead. 

           “Alright go ahead shoot. Let me see how good you are at this.” I ordered moving to the back of the room to watch. He attempts to shoot the bow, but when he finally shoots it, it barely makes it ten feet from where he was standing. He tries three more times, each time with the same result. He then sighs and sets the bow back. 

          “You had a good start. The main problem is your form. Try it like this.” I said picking up my bow and setting my left foot behind me just a couple inches and nocking an arrow and then drawing my  hand that was aiming all the way to my cheek. I then fired and hit it straight in the middle of the target. 

          He tries it again, with only a slightly better result than before. “I’m just not good at these types of things. I can’t aim, and people have tried teaching me that before too.” 

          “It's okay Owen, these things take time. You'll get better. I promise you just have to let me help you.” 

“No I won’t. I’ve tried. Can we just move on?”

           I sighed “Look kid, you're gonna have to try harder than just one time. You gotta work with me here alright?”

           Owen sighs, then goes silent for a second before finally speaking. “I just can’t. Not here. It’s too uncomfortable. Especially when I’m put on the spot like this.” 

           I look down at the ground for a second and then shove my hands in my pockets before walking out the door. I tap my earpiece and say. “There any missions for me?” 

           “Agent Adams, I thought you were training Owen today.” Agent Whitlock responded.

           “It's too soon he's not ready just yet sir.” 

            “Well there aren't any missions for you just yet but I'll let you know. You have my permission to postpone his training for today and for today only.” 

           “I understand, sir, thank you.” Just then the door opened behind me and it was Owen before he could say anything I spoke.  “I'm sorry for pressuring you. I have permission from the Top to postpone training until tomorrow. I'll see you around.” I said heading for the elevator. Owen doesn’t move, and just watches me leave. I come back about four hours later to find most of the arrows in, or near the center of the target, and the same bow that Owen used on the ground. 

           I smile and pick up the bow that he used and wipe it down and place it back on the equipment wall. I then make my way upstairs and walk down the hall to his room and knock on his door.  “Owen.” I call softly. 

           A minute later, he opens the door with another soda can in hand. “Hmm?” 

          “You did all that? I'm impressed. Good job.”

            “Wait, what did I do? Am I in trouble again?” 

           “The arrows in the target.” 

           “What arrows? I’m not all that good with bows.” 

          “Come with me.” I said walking down the hall and down the stairs to the training room. Owen reluctantly follows you, not uttering a single word. I enter the training room and gesture to the target full of arrows and the arrows on the ground. 

            “Nice job.” 

“T-This could’ve been anyone.” 

            “It's fine I'm not mad. Nobody else was scheduled to be down here because of our training today.”

“W-Well, someone could’ve just walked in and trained.” 

           “That is true but it's highly unlikely.” 

“It’s not that unlikely. With the amount of people I’ve seen here, it’s very possible.” 

           “Yes but we do keep track of who is using the rooms at each time so we can adjust accordingly. Although Cole might have forgotten again.” 

           “There’s logs of when people use this place?” 

        “Of course there is. I'll call Cole in a minute and ask if he's been down here.” 

           “Don’t…he wasn’t. It was just me…” 

            “Why didn't you tell me?”  

“...I prefer not showing my skills. I always screw up when showing them to others.” 

            “That makes sense. Sorry I made you uncomfortable.” I said rubbing the back of my neck. Just then my phone rang. I picked it up and answered and immediately my calm expression went from calm to worried. As the conversation progressed I began to pace back and forth in the hallway and Owen could hear little bits and snatches of it. “Oh what! Mm…. yeah….how long for recovery time? Two months?! Gosh…. yeah this is bad.” I hung up a couple minutes later and kept pacing a minute later I shook my head and remembered that Owen was still there. 

          “Sorry about that, something really bad came up. You can take the day off.” I said letting out a lengthy sigh and crumpling to the floor. Owen just nods his head, and walks out the room.

          I sigh and check my watch. It's about eight o'clock at night so I decide to retire. I stay in my room for the next two days not eating, only drinking water and crying a lot. My superiors have given me a couple of vacation days because of the situation but I can't bring myself to do anything. Suddenly there's a knock on the door. I open it and see Owen. My hair is all messed up and my clothes are baggy and there's tear tracks showing under my eyes. 

             “What's up?” 

          “Um, are you good? You’ve been in their for a while. Did someone important die?”

          “Yeah. I'm fine. And he almost died. Cole has always been like a brother to me. I got the call that he had been shot in the stomach and they weren't sure he'd live. I'm still waiting to hear if he's okay or not… sorry.” 

          “Oh. I see. None of my concern then.” He says as he turns to leave. 

          “Owen, wait let me get dressed in uniform and then we can train. I've put this off for too long.”

           “I’ve been…practicing a little on my own, so if you still need to grieve, I’ll just practice on my own again.” 

         “No it's alright. I'm a professional, I should be better than this. I'll be out in about… twenty minutes.” I said closing the door and then showering and changing into my uniform. I tied my hair back into a bun and swung by the cafeteria to grab a sandwich and the armory to grab two of my swords and strapped them to my back and went down to the gym to use the punching bag, hitting it repeatedly over and over until I fell into a rhythm ignoring anyone around me. I then heard a knock on the door and opened it. It was Owen. 

             “Hey so what have you been practicing?” I asked. He pulls out his short swords, and points to them. 

           “That's great. Have you ever used one of these?” I asked pulling a katana from its sheath on my back. The blade itself was black and had some Korean symbols on its side decorated in a light blue.

           Owen shakes his head no. “I just use my swords. I don’t leave them behind.” 

           “Interesting. Why don't you try this.” I said pulling out another one of my katanas from the other sheath strapped to my back. 

           Owen shakes his head again. “I’m not used to those. They have too much weight to them. I can’t dual wield them well.” 

           “That makes sense. Are there any weapons you do use except for your swords?” He starts to shake his head again, then stops, and pulls out what looks like a small bouncy ball from his pocket. He then tosses it against a wall, and it explodes in a cloud of smoke and noise. When the smoke clears, I can see that it didn’t damage the wall it hit at all. 

           “That's great. Now, show me what you can do against an opponent.” I snapped my fingers and a simulation of a person appeared clad in heavy silver and blue armor with a pistol at his side and several knives that lined his arm bracers.

“Um, are you sure? I don’t think I'd do well.” Owen says as he eyes the simulation, and seems to be studying it. 

           “You'll be okay, it's on the normal level.” 

           “I don’t know what normal is for you.” 

           ¨Oh you're not fighting me. You're fighting him.¨ I said pointing to the simulated guy. 

“But I’m not used to fighting… whatever this is. And your version of normal, and my version of normal is different.” 

             I sigh and toss him an iPad. “Adjust it to whatever level you want. I'm not in the mood to tease Death today.” 

             He catches the iPad, and tosses it back. “I don’t know any of the technology here. I’ll just practice with my swords in my room.” He says as he starts to walk to the door. 

            Before he reaches the door one of my katanas slam into it. “If not tech then how about me as your opponent?”

Owen jumps back in surprise, then sighs as he puts his hands into his pockets. “Fine, but I can’t promise I won’t hurt you once the battle starts. I usually don’t fight for training.” He says as he grabs both of his short swords, holding them in reverse grip. 

           I smile and press a button on my uniform and pieces of armor materialize over me and once it's done leaves a sleek black armor with thin blue highlights covering every inch of my body finally comes a helmet which is also all black as well. I stretch my hand out and my katana comes flying back into my hand and I draw the other. 

He takes a deep breath, then runs forward, throwing another of those smoke bombs in my face. When the smoke clears, he’s holding one of his swords to my neck, and another to one of my arms, blocking the katana in that hand from moving. 

           I throw the katana into the air and jab my free elbow back into his stomach and he lets go of me. I then catch the katana I threw and slash across his chest sliding backwards against the floor barely winded.

Owen stands up with a slightly fearful look in his eyes, and rushes me with his sword, he then drops low, and trips me before stabbing inwards into a slight gap in my armor, then stepping back, and reaching in his pockets for a brief second. 

          I quickly step forward and slash his hand in the second that he hesitates and before he can take out whatever is in his pocket and punch him in the stomach before moving a couple feet away. 

           As I take the thing out of his pocket, which is revealed to be more of those smoke bombs, some of them explode in my face, blinding me. I’m then hit with slash after slash, all hitting small gaps in my armor, resulting in cuts and slashes on more than just my armor.

         He then snatches the rest of the smoke bombs from my hand, and forces my head into the ground. When I can see again, he’s halfway across the room, keeping a watchful eye on me with his swords in hand. I looked around, and realized that he hit me into a corner of the room while I was blinded. 

             I stand up and press a finger to the side of my helmet, a visor dropping down over my eyes and I activate the thermal view. I then step forward and throw my katana across the room pinning his arm to the wall. I then use my other katana to strike again and again and again until he's covered in slashes and blood and only then do I relent. Before stepping away I strike him with an uppercut to the chin and retreat to the back of the room.

             Owen drops to the ground immediately after removing the sword pinning him to the wall. He drops his swords next to him, and starts breathing heavily, as if he’s in a lot of pain. 

          I swear and drop my swords and grab the medkit from the wall and run to him stumbling in my haste to help. “Ah dang it I'm so sorry. I went too far. I'm the worst. I'm sorry I'm sorry.” I grab his arm and check the wound. I then realize his right arm is completely metal, but before I could process it, the arm moved, hitting me square in the jaw, cracking the visor on my helmet, and sending me flying across the room. He then slowly stands up, and looks at me. I then saw his left eye for the first time. It's completely red, and started to glow.

Owen quickly picks up his swords, and covers his eye again. He also attempts to cover his arm as well. “I’m done with practice.” He says before walking out the training room.  

I sigh and slowly stand up processing what happened. I then head to our infirmary and get fixed up. The next day I head to the training room not bothering to notify Owen and stand there in silence. When I walk in, I see Owen already inside, practicing with two of the pistols from the training rack. He was wearing headphones, and his slashed up clothing was replaced. 

I hesitate before entering the room but then go to the wall and take down a practice bow and shoot the targets that line the walls of the room, careful to keep my back facing away from Owen. After about an hour, the shooting stops, and Owen puts the weapons back where they were before leaving. 

I also replace the bow and hurry after him, stepping in front of him. “I'm sorry about yesterday, are you okay?”

“...I’m fine. I didn’t want you seeing the arm is all.” He says before stepping around you, and continuing to his room. 

I sighed and fell into step beside him. “Look I don't care if you have a metal arm. People around here know that I… well you'd never realize it but I had to replace my leg with a prosthetic. If it makes you feel any better.” I said, shrugging. 

“Mine’s different. It’s not like your prosthetic.” He says as he pulls out a soda from his jacket pocket. “Mine’s the reason my parents are dead.”

I sigh. “Well actually… before I joined S.I.G.N I was a assassin. I injured my leg severely after taking care of someone and they had to amputate.” I said looking down at the ground. When I look up again, Owen is walking further down the hallway. 

I break into a light sprint to catch up to him. “So… what did you mean it's the reason your parents died?”

“They died because this was made. The technology inside of it… never mind. It’s not a concern you should have.” Owen says as he opens the soda in his hands, starts drinking, and continues walking. 

I followed him silently for a few minutes. “Did you hit me on purpose? I mean when I grabbed your arm. Or was it the technology?”

“Technically, it was both… just don’t worry about it.” 

“Wait… so you did hit me on purpose? Or not. I'm confused.” Suddenly I hear a rustling in my ear. I signal for Owen to stop and receive the message. “It's time for a mission, are you in?”

Owen stays silent for a long time, then sighs, and nods his head. 

“Alright put your earpiece in and let's go to the armory.” I said sprinting down the hallway to the armory. I stepped inside and grabbed my katanas and a pistol with some extra magazines and checked the pistol to make sure the safety was on before throwing it in a bag. Owen just follows you after putting his earpiece in, not grabbing weapons. I stopped for a second and replaced my katanas in my locker and exchanged it instead for a long dagger. 

“Meet me at the armory at six o clock. You can find a tux in your closet.” 

When I met him at the armory I was dressed in a long form fitting red gown and was wearing heels and my hair dyed black with a black and gold comb holding a bun in place. I also wore a diamond pendant and matching diamond earrings.

Owen was wearing his suit semi crookedly. He’d chosen a dark blue suit and tie, and was wearing a matching glove to cover his right arm fully. “Who in their right mind would wear this? It’s uncomfortable, impractical, and I could barely hide my short swords in this.” 

I sighed and reached out and straightened his tux. ¨You have to. Our mission is to infiltrate the Starlight ball. Once there we must seek out our target Leo Sinclair. He is suspected to be a murderer and his next target might be the host. Understand that under no circumstances except self defense do we draw our weapons or break cover. Do you understand?¨ 

“Wait, what? I need my weapons for defense. I don’t know anything about any of that stuff, and who is this Sinclair guy anyway?” 

¨Your weapons are to be kept concealed unless given the order. Leo Sinclair is a notorious thief and robber and suspected of first degree murder.“

“Not using my weapons goes against everything I’ve had to learn. Fine, let’s just get this nightmare over with. These suits suck.” 

¨If you'd prefer I can reassign you to a different partner. I thought this would be a good test for you since your new but maybe I'm mistaken.¨ 

“Underestimate me again, and I’m cutting off your prosthetic. Shut up and walk.” 

I glared and crossed my arms. ¨You don't give the orders around here. I am in a higher position than you. Mind your place.¨ I said walking to the elevator that leads to the car.

I sighed and got into the car after the elevator and shifted in my seat to look at Owen. 

¨I´m sorry I snapped at you, I won't underestimate you again..¨ 

“Whatever. Just drive.” He says, looking out the window. 

I sigh and turn on the radio. About two hours later we reach the place and I hand two invitations to the bouncer standing at the door. 

¨Ah welcome Jessica Stone and Tony Yale please have a pleasant time.¨ 

I smiled and walked into the ballroom. It was huge with a long winding staircase and cream colored walls with a large dance space in the middle and long white tables against the back wall filled with food and waiters were walking around with flutes of wine and champagne and appetizers on silver trays. I immediately spotted the host, a tall handsome man who had dark brown hair and chocolate colored eyes dressed in a white tux and flirting with a lady in a beautiful blue gown that made her look like she just stepped out of Beauty and the Beast. In the middle of the room near the center was a band playing soft waltzing music.

I turned my head to whisper into Owen´s ear. ¨Keep an eye on him. Don´t drink, I´m going to try to get to know him. Our target is blond with brown eyes and should be wearing a white tux like his and has a large muscular build. Let me know once you find him.”Owen briefly nods his head, and scans the crowd even more than he was when he entered. 

I approached the host and waited until he was done flirting with the other girl. He then noticed me and I watched as his eyes widened with interest. 

“Who are you? I am Calix Sharp and I must say you are stunning.” 

“I am Jessica Stone and thank you for the compliment, wasn't that your girlfriend?” 

“No, of course not. Would you care to dance?” 

          I nodded and smiled and we began to waltz across the room catching the eyes of everyone.

         I suddenly spotted our target across the room and winked at Owen as we passed him. Owen nods his head as he notices your signal, and starts slowly moving to where you indicated. 

        Once the song is over I draw away from Calix  and press a finger to my earpiece keeping my voice low. “Get to know him, we need all the Intel we can get.” 

“Wait, we need intel from this guy? I thought you killed people, not charm them up? I’m not good at talking in the slightest.” 

             “We don't kill unless absolutely necessary. I'll take care of Leo but you have to watch the host.”

Owen sighs, and turns to find the host of the party. I smiled and moved towards Leo who looked surprised to be approached. “Hello, I am Jessica. What's your name?” 

           He recovered quickly and immediately a pleasant smile appeared on his face. “My name is Leo. Weren't you with the host a moment ago?” 

           “Yes I was but I didn't find him very interesting.” 

            He smiles at me and offers his hand. “I'm going to get some food. Would you care to come with me?” 

          I nodded and looked around the room for Owen. Before I find him, I hear him from my earpiece. “Something’s definitely going on here, and the host is in on it. Whatever info you need, get it quick.”  

           I smile at Leo and edge away from him. “I am so sorry but something's come up I have to go.” Before I can turn away he lunges forward and grabs my arms pinning them to my side. I struggle and kick him in the shin which earns a swear from him but no freedom. He slides a dagger out from his pocket and holds it against my throat and whispers in my ear. “Calix wasn't the next target. You were.”  

Before he can do anything, a gloved hand lands on his shoulder, and pulls him away from me. “Hey, buddy, sorry, but you gotta try this man.” Owen says drunkenly with a drink in his other hand as he holds the cup to his face, and spills some of the drink on Leo’s suit, causing him to stalk off to dry off his suit. Immediately, Owen stops acting, and looks at you. “We need to leave. Now.” 

         “Yeah I noticed that. Let's go.” I said ducking into the crowd and weaving through the people to try and reach the exit. We almost reach the door except the host blocks it. He looks at me and Owen and smiles. “Why are you leaving so soon?” 

         I start to stagger and act like I'm sick. “I'm not feeling well, my friend was going to drive me home right?” I say looking at Owen. 

         Owen nods his head, looking a bit upset. “Yeah, yeah. A shame too, since this is a really nice party.” 

         I cough and make it sound like I'm sick. “Alright, are you ready to go Tony?” 

         “No, but it’s either leave, or you throw up on me. Come on, let’s go.”

        “Yeah okay.” I say trying to push past the host to the door but he persists and doesn't move. I sigh and nod to Owen signaling that he can use a small bit of force. 

         Owen just sighed, and hits him on the neck, knocking him out. “Done. Let’s go.” 

        I nod and we walk out the door and I drive us back to base once we get there I turn to Owen. “You should probably get some rest, I'm going to be up for a while so text me if you need anything.” I said pocketing my car keys and heading for the elevator.

        Owen nods his head, and walks inside. Immediately, he sprints towards his room. 

        I get in my car and drive to the nearest bar and order a glass of wine and sip it slowly thinking about the night's events. Suddenly A familiar looking man sits down next to me. “Haven’t seen you here in a while. Long day?” 

         “Oh hey Koa, yeah you wouldn't believe what happened at work today.” I said, giving him a tired smile and taking a sip of wine. 

         “With all the weird missions we’ve been through, how bad can this one be?” He says before drinking from a bottle. 

          “I guess you're right. Why does someone always have to try to kill me.” I sigh and glance at the glass in my hands. “I just hope I still have the talent for it. I barely was able to free myself.” 

“Well, you got out of it, didn’t you? Helps to get in a couple of situations like that every blue moon. Keeps you on your toes.” 

            “Actually the funny thing is I didn't get out of it, not by myself at least. My partner had to take over. I kinda miss those days when it was just you and me working together.” I said taking a long sip of wine. 

“Ah. I see. What’s the newbie like anyway? Ball of nerves?” 

         “Nah I mean he was shy at first but then he opened up a bit. Nothing like you though. He's great with a pair of swords and real smart too. Did you get a new partner yet?”

“Nah. Besides, don’t think I could handle a newbie anyway. I’d forget to teach them stuff sometimes.” He says before emptying his bottle. 

          “Yeah knowing you, you would forget a.lot of things.”.

       “Well, I think it’s about time for me to head home. Good seeing you though.” 

          I drain the rest of my glass and stand up. “Yeah it's probably time for me to get back to base too. I'll see you around. It was nice talking to you.” 

“Yeah, see you later, and good luck with the newbie.” He says with a smile before walking away. 

            “Thanks. Don't be a stranger come and visit me.” 

            “We’ll see.” He says before walking out of earshot. 

         I smiled and paid for my drink before walking to my car and driving back to base. I woke up early the next day and sat in the cafeteria staring at my hands thinking about the past. Suddenly I hear crunching coming from above. I look up to see Owen sitting on one of the beams near the ceiling, eating cereal. He was looking up at the ceiling as metallic feet dangled from where he was sitting. He didn’t notice me yet. 

         I got up and sighed and went to the coffee machine to make myself some coffee and once it was done sipped it and stared at the steam rising from the cup. Owen noticed the steam, and immediately grabbed his shoes from a nearby support, and put them back on before jumping down, bowl still in hand. “S-sorry. I didn’t expect anyone to be up at the time. I’ll leave now.” 

              I sigh. “It's okay you can stay. Sorry I startled you. I'm not usually up this early.” 

Owen nodded his head, then proceeded to walk out the door. 

            I stayed there for about an hour before walking to the armory and grabbing my katanas and then the training room and putting earbuds in and sat down and started hitting the punching bag that hung on the wall repeatedly falling into a comforting rhythm. Eventually, I feel a tap on my shoulder. “Um, is there training today?” Owen asked. 

          I jumped and spun around embarrassed and rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah sorry about that. What do you want to work on today?” I said removing my earbuds. 

          Owen shrugs. “Not sure.” 

          “Okay then how about we work on physical attacks?”

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. I can’t fight without my swords, or…” He then falls silent, looking at his arm for a second. 

            “That's alright, do you want to work on your swordsmanship instead?” 

            Owen shrugs, then pulls out his swords.

      I smile and unsheath one of the katanas from my back and tap a button on my glove and my armor and repaired helmet materialize over me once again.

Owen takes a deep breath, then takes his shoes off, revealing his mechanical feet. He then charges forward, swinging both of his swords at me, one to my head, and one to my legs. 

            I duck under the head swipe and put my leg with the prosthetic in front taking the hit. I then swing my katana at his arm and twirl around behind him and kick him in the back before moving towards the other side of the room.

When I turn around, I don’t see Owen. Before I could find out where he went, that question was answered for me as he dropped from above, and hit my katana, using the momentum from the fall to knock it out of my hands, before kicking me into a corner, then stepping back to my sword, and throwing it so it gets stuck in the ceiling. He then looked at me with a slight smile as he readied his twin swords, and took a sword stance, waiting for me to move. 

         I gave him a slight smile as well and unsheathed my second katana and ran forward and slid underneath him, appearing behind him, and slashing his arm that wasn't metal and aimed a well placed kick at his legs making him fall before I slashed his left hand. I then moved back across the room to give me some range.

He stood up, and turned around in an instant, throwing one of his swords. I move to block it, but as I do, he rushes forward, and stabs my metal leg through the gap in its armor, pinning me to the ground. He then pulls out a small dagger from his pocket, and grabs the sword that he threw out of the air, and continues onslaughting me with blows, forcing me to block as I slowly take more and more damage to my armor.  

          I grab the sword, pinning me to the ground and pull it out and stretch out a hand to my katana which is lying on the ground. It flies back into my hand and I grab it and the other sword. I then thrust both my legs really hard into Owens stomach and stabbed him in the arm. I then swing around behind him and hold my katana to his throat, pressing hard enough that a drop of blood appears on his throat. The other sword I have in one of my sheaths while my left hand  is wrenching his left arm behind his back. 

Owen then looks at you for a brief moment before his left eye starts glowing. For a brief moment, I can make out the word “Judgment” on the eye, before he jumps backwards, snatching the sword held to his neck out of my hand, and holding it by the blade in his right arm. I then see the arm change slightly, like nanotech, making the arm slightly longer, and more sleeker, and giving it claws. Before I can ask what’s going on, he throws the sword in his hand on the ground, and kicks me into a wall, before punching me in the stomach, then head, then narrowly dodging a sword swing, and throwing me to the other side of the room, slamming me into a wall.

          I inhale sharply and reach for the sword that's still in my sheath and get up. In an instant I’m across the room and I throw a punch to his stomach but he dodges immediately. In an instant I'm thrown to the ground and I get up again and manage to land a kick to his leg but he shakes it off easily. I swear and rush to meet him and use the sword to block his punches. I manage to land a few more kicks and punches in but after that I land on one knee blood seeping from a couple wounds on my arms and face but still determined. 

       After a moment I rush across the room and tackle him to the floor as my katana flies back to my right hand and I slash his arms, drop my sword, and aim an uppercut to his chin. He grabs my punch with his right hand, and in a swift motion, breaks my wrist, and kicks me in the leg, exposing the wiring behind the steel plating, then spins around and kicks me in the head, forcing me to fall to the ground. 

         I grunt but stay on the ground. “What are you doing?!” 

         I see the right arm move to stab me with its claws, but the left arm catches it, holding it back. “ I can’t control it… Move, now!” Owen says, his voice sounding strained as his mechanical arm moved closer to me, and his left arm started slipping. 

        I immediately roll out of the way and jump up and kick him in the face and stretch out my left hand to my katana and slash at his stomach really hard and it leaves a bleeding cut. I spin around behind him and kick him in the head and throw my katana at his left arm which pins it to the ground.

        In an instant, his right arm spins around, and backhands you, before pulling the sword out of his other arm. Immediately afterwards, his right arm slumps down, and Owen falls to his knees, breathing heavily. I try to walk up to him, but he motions to stay where I am, as he tries to get his breathing stable. Eventually, he’s breathing normally, and is lying on his back. He sighs, then looks at you, his left eye off. “So, I’ll give you three questions, since you must have a lot.” 

      I glance at him and then let out a huge sigh and collapse on the ground. “Who did this to you?” 

        “My parents. That’s one question.” 

          “Why'd they do it?”

        “To protect me. That’s two.” 

         “Who killed them?”

        “Criminals.” He then looks at his arm, sighed, then looks back at you. “Well, I’m stuck here until my limbs turn back on. Anything else?” 

         “Yeah, are you okay?” I said, giving him a concerned look.

        “What do you mean, am I ok?”   

         “I mean like after all this.” I said sitting up and cradling my wrist.

         “I’ll be fine. You look worse off than me anyway.”

         “I'm alright just a little winded. I'll need new armor again but other than that I just need to fix the wiring on my leg.

          He then sighs and looks at his left arm, and all the cuts and stab wounds. “Could’ve been a bit nicer to the human arm though.” he muttered. 

         “Yeah you're right I'm sorry. To be fair though you did do a bit of damage.” I say looking at the slashes and cuts on my arms and legs.

         “Just be glad the system didn’t do anything more than that. This thing is almost impossible to control. I limited what I could though.”

         “So what really is the system?”

         “It’s… never mind. The less you know, the better.” 

         I sighed and stood up carefully and dusted myself off. “Well you stay here I'm going to get us both a ride to the hospital.” I stepped out into the hallway and dialed Koa hoping he'd pick up.

         Immediately, Owen sat up, and his robotic limbs turned on, and started repairing themselves. “I don’t need a hospital visit. I’ll be fine!” He shouted out to me.

I ignore him, and wait for the phone. Eventually, the phone stops ringing. “Yo. It’s not like you to call me. What’s up?” 

        “Hey… I need a ride to the hospital for me and a friend. It's pretty bad, can you take us? I'll explain on the way.”

“Uhh, sure. Where are you at?” 

             “Do you remember where the base is?”

“Astrid… fine, but I’m waiting for you outside.” He said before hanging up. I sigh, and walk back into the training room to tell Owen, but he wasn’t there. 

           I sigh and limp over to the elevator and walk outside still limping and clutching my arm. Koa is leaning against his car looking for me. 

          Once I make my way near him I give him a half smile. “Sorry for making you come here. I-”

“No need to apologize. It’s fine. Where’s your friend?” 

            “He didn't want to come and when he doesn't want to be found he won't be found. I can go look for him though if you want.” 

“Chances are, he needs medical attention, so let’s be quick.” He says as he starts walking to the door. “What does he look like?” 

              “White hair, blue eyes, medium height. Do you remember how to get around base?” I asked following him inside.

“I don’t forget easily. Any other distinguishing feature?” 

           “Metal legs, left eye is robotic. You check the cafeteria and training room. I'll check his room. No scratch that, come with me I might need backup.” 

“Dang, what kind of accident did he get into? And what do you mean you might need backup?” 

           “First of all look at me, you see all the injuries? That… was him. Anyways, no time to explain.” I said breaking into a sprint and heading for the door.

“Alright then.” He replies as he matches your pace. 

           Before we reach Owens room I stop by the armory and take off the remaining pieces of armor on me and pull out a pistol and hand it to Koa. 

          “Don't do anything to him okay? It's not what it seems, like you have to trust me on this.” I said checking my own pistol in its holster.

“This kid scares you that badly? Alright then. Just know combat instincts don’t go away easily.” 

        “I… he doesn't scare me, he's a friend.” I said unbuckling the holster from my side and placing it in my locker and motioning for Koa to do the same. He nods his head, does it, then follows you. 

      I knock on Owen’s door and take a step back motioning for Koa to stand beside me. Owen opens the door, looking half asleep. His torn sweater and sweatpants were replaced, and his robotic limbs covered again. “What is it? I need my sleep.” He says, not yet acknowledging Koa. 

          “You were injured, come with us to the hospital. By the way, this is Koa, he's an old friend.” I said.

Owen looks at Koa as if studying him, then takes a step back. “I’m not going to the hospital. Thanks for the offer though.” He says before quickly closing the door. 

           I sigh and move to leave but another bout of pain sweeps through my body and the next second I'm on the floor gasping in pain. Koa immediately helps you to stand. “Are you okay? What hurts?” 

       “Legs, arms, basically everything.” I said, leaning my head against the wall. 

“Alright. Just rest here for a moment. I can get the kid.” 

           “You need to be careful, don't force him to do anything and don't use physical force.” I say turning around to face him cradling my wrist with my hand. “Trust me.” 

“You’re going to have to show me what happened to get you afraid of this kid after this.” He says before knocking on the door again. This time, Owen opens the door holding a soda can in his hands, and raises an eyebrow. “Listen kid, you need a hospital, and I’m going to take you, ok?”

Owen finishes drinking the soda, then shakes his head no. He motions to close the door, but Koa blocks the door with his foot. 

            “Koa, leave him be.” 

“No no, it’s fine. Just give me a quick moment.” He says before stepping inside the room. After a minute of banging and the sound of fists being thrown, Koa walks out with a black eye, and with Owen over his shoulder. “Got him.” He said with a slight smile. 

         “What the heck did you do?!” I said leaping to my feet and then sitting back down. “He's my partner.” I said, giving Koa a look. 

He walks past you with a smile. “Calm down. He’s just unconscious. He fights really well through.” 

           “I hate you.” I said, crossing my arms. 

“Don’t lie. You like me. In any case, what are his prosthetics?” 

            “I'll tell you later. And I still hate you.” I said moving to walk next to him.

“Yeah, yeah.” He says before walking to his car, and dropping Owen in the backseat.

            I sigh and slide into the front seat behind him and after a while of silence we arrive at the hospital.        

        We walk in together and sit in the waiting room until someone sees us and we are rushed to a room where we are inspected and then rushed off to get fixed up. After about two hours worth of work I'm told I have to stay overnight. I was sitting up in a hospital bed. A little while later a nurse brings Koa in to see me. “Alright, give me the news. What’s the damage?” 

         The nurse gave me a glance over before turning to Koa. “Several lacerations to the head, legs, arms, a fractured wrist, bruised arms, legs and shoulders. And that´s not counting the stab wounds and blood loss.¨

            “Dang. What exactly happened in that sparring match of yours?” Koa said, looking you dead in the eyes. 

            ¨Owen has this thing, and basically in simple terms he goes berserk. It's only happened once before.¨ 

“I see. Did he not tell you about what it does?” 

           ¨Yeah no he didn't.¨

“Well, we should probably ask him about it. He’s in the waiting room now.” 

            ¨I wouldn´t.¨ 

“And why not? This is something we need to know about, I think we can both agree on that much.” 

           ¨Yeah but… I don't want to pry right now.¨

“Why not? I need a reason.” 

           ¨I´m in pain right now.¨

“And when has that stopped you? Besides, we’re just asking questions. What’s the harm in that?” Koa says with a shrug. 

¨Fine, bring him in here.¨

“Alright then.” Koa then walks out the room. A couple of minutes later, him and Owen walk into the room. “Here he is.” 

¨Owen, we need you to tell us more about what happened today, and what exactly does it do?¨ I said motioning for Koa to come stand beside me.

“What do you mean what happened today? And what does what do?” Owen says as he pulls out a bag of chips. 

            “I mean what's with the whole left eye glowing and the brutal attacks.” 

“Oh. Uh, it’s my prosthetic.” Owen replies, getting more and more nervous. 

            “What does your prosthetic do? Don't worry, we are just curious. Nothing will happen to you.” I said, giving him a reassuring smile.

“It’s… my arm? Also my legs. And my left eye. Also, as you saw, they're made from nanotech. Why does that matter?” 

¨Its important to know so this doesn't happen again. Can you control it?¨

“Yes… for the most part.”

  ¨Oh ok, do you want to go back to base?¨

“…no.” 

¨Why not? You don't have to stay here.¨ I said, glancing at Koa. 

“…I’m not running the risk of anyone else finding out about my arm.” 

¨We won´t tell.¨ 

“That’s a lie. Most government types lie.” 

I got a hurt look on my face for a moment before swinging my legs over the side of my bed and holding out a hand to Koa to help me stand. He did so and I walked over to Owen and looked him dead in the eyes. 

¨I wouldn't lie to you. You are my partner which means that I… I have to be there for you.¨ I turned to Koa. ¨You were my partner for years, would I lie to you?¨ I asked him. 

Before Koa could answer, Owen cut him off. “It doesn’t matter that we’re partners. You just met me, and look where we’re at now. You’ve known him, so of course you wouldn’t lie to him. Besides, I don’t need you prying into what my prosthetics are. No one can figure them out anyway.” 

¨…ok I´ll leave then.¨ I said moving towards the door, my head down and shoulders slumped because I knew he was right. Someone stopped me as I was walking out the doors of the hospital. A gentle hand was on my shoulder but I tried to brush it off. Instead, Owen walks out the door as Koa helps you back to the medical bed.

¨I… can you stay here with me for a little bit.¨ I asked softly, playing  with a strand of my hair and looking away. 

“Sure. I don’t mind.” 

¨Thank you. I… guess I really thought I… that I was ready for…¨ I broke off my sentence and went silent. 

“Stop blaming yourself so much. Everything takes time, and judging the kid, he doesn’t think that anyone can help his unique situation.”

¨Yeah but it was too soon.¨ 

“Just don’t rush things, ok?” 

¨Yeah, I know. Anyways, how are you doing?¨ 

“Didn’t expect a lot of things today to be honest.” 

I laughed ¨What like me calling you out of the blue saying I was injured and needed your help?¨

“That, going back to sign, the kid, all of it.” Koa then goes silent for a moment, as if thinking about whether or not he should tell you something. 

¨ What's on your mind?¨ 

“It's about the kid, Owen. You know how you have to stay overnight?” 

¨Yeah what's it got to do with him?¨ 

“When we brought him in, he had the same recommendation, but an hour later, he was good to go. That’s a bit weird, isn’t it?” 

¨Not really I figure he has some sort of advanced healing. Did you get your eye checked out as well or not?¨ I said, studying his face. 

“My big thing is, how did he get access to tech like that? Not even SIGN has access to tech like that. Also my face is fine, though the black eye is staying for a week.” 

¨I don´t know. Anyways, come here.¨ I said, motioning for him to stand beside me. 

“Not now. You need rest. Go to sleep.” 

¨And what will you do? Stand guard?¨ I teased. 

“Just rest.” Koa said back as he sat down in a chair. 

           I smile and eventually manage to fall asleep and in the morning I wake up to a nurse checking my vitals. I immediately looked around for Koa to find him asleep in a chair, with a hat over his eyes. 

          I smiled and motioned for the nurse to be silent. I whispered to the nurse. “Bring us some food when he wakes up please.” The nurse smiled and nodded at me, closing the door quietly behind her.

          As soon as the door closes, Koa wakes up, and looks around for a moment. “I heard the door, did the kid come back or something?” 

           “No, everything is fine, it was just the nurse taking my vitals. Go back to sleep.” I said with a soft smile. 

           “Nah. Once I’m up, I don’t go back to sleep anyway. Speaking of, where is the kid anyway?” 

           “I don't know he left yesterday, remember? Do you want something to eat?”

           “I can find food on my own, thank you though. So, they tell you what time you can leave yet?” 

          “Yeah it's gonna be about five o clock am they want to observe me for a hour just to make sure I'm well enough to leave. You can go though you don't have to stay with me.” 

           “And how do you plan on getting back? I was your ride here, remember?” Koa said with a yawn as he started stretching. 

         “I'll get a taxi. Don't you have work or something anyways?”

           “Why are you so eager to get rid of me? Got any dark secrets you don’t want me knowing about?” Koa said teasingly. 

            “No, I just want you to not have to feel obligated to stay with me. And of course I have my secrets. I can't tell you everything now can I?” I teased back.

            “Nobody’s obligating me to do anything. I do hope you know that, Astrid.” 

            “Really because you sounded a bit upset when I asked you to come to S.I.G.N to pick me up.” 

“You really just want to dampen the mood, huh? Just focus on resting. I do need to get something from my car though, so I’ll be right back.” He says before walking out of the room.

           I sigh and the nurse enters the room bringing a tray to the table beside it and then leaves. On it is a small bowl of oatmeal and a cup of water with a spoon beside it. I start to eat slowly, my right hand slightly shaking from the effort of having to use it. Koa walks in soon afterwards, and sits down, looking frustrated for a second, then smiling and looking at you. “How’s the food?” 

           “Not very good. Don't hide your emotions from me, what are you thinking about.” 

           Koa releases a long sigh, then looks at me. “Someone stole my car.” 

          I swore. “I think I know who it was.”

           Koa sat up immediately. “Who?”

          “Owen, he wanted to get out of here and that was one of the ways so it makes sense. I sigh and pull out an earpiece from my bag that's on the bed next to me and toss it to Koa and I tap my own and order. “Get me a secure line, this is Agent Dancer. Yeah keep on the lookout for a car. Mm yeah it's a former Agents Hawks car. Thank you.” 

Koa then stands up, and pulls his phone out of his pocket. “I’m glad I put a tracker in that car. I’m going to hurt that kid. Badly. The car is… near a shopping center? It’s actually really close to here. We can go there after you get discharged.” 

          “Don't hurt him. He's scared and he's not thinking right now. Like… like when I first met you. Don't please, if anything, restrain yourself for me.” 

“I make no promises.” 

          I sigh and get out of bed coming over to him and giving him a hug. “I know, it's hard. I'm sorry I didn't think he'd do this. But you have to trust me. I know you don't trust him but you have to try to understand.” 

“Maybe. He still needs to learn. Now let’s go, before he moves locations again.” 

     I nod. A nurse comes in and I tell her I have  to leave, then I sprint out the door and Koa and I sprint to the store. We make it in time to see Owen walking out the building, eating a granola bar. 

         We sprint over to him and I stand in front of Koa. “Owen, why did you take his car? You know that's not right.”

Owen jumps back for a second, then looks at us both. “I didn’t steal it. It would’ve been back before 5:00. And besides, if I wanted to take it permanently, I wouldn’t have left the tracker in the car.” He says before taking another bite of the granola bar in his hands. 

            I sighed. “Kid that's still considered stealing. Did you buy that?” I said, crossing my arms and giving him a look.

“Buy what? The granola bar, yes. Most of the things in the car, no.” 

            “You did what?!” I sigh and motion Koa forwards. “You deal with this.” 

“Now hold on a sec, before he starts a fight, I do want to say, I did clean the car before I borrowed it.” Owen said as he started slowly backing up. “And besides, you don’t even know what’s in the car. For all you know, I just have a can of soda, and Mac and cheese in that car.” 

          “It's Koa’s car, you tell him that.”

Owen sighs, then looks at you. “Fine, but something you should know: I restocked on smoke bombs.” As the words registered, he threw two of them, one at each of our faces. When the smoke cleared, he already got decently far from us, and was still running. 

           I started to sprint as fast as I could and managed to get in front of him and grab him.

      “Owen look at me, it's okay we aren't going to hurt you.I promise.” ”

        “Lie. Koa is definitely going to kill me.” Owen said before breaking my grip, and turning a corner. I moved to follow him, but I turned just in time to see him finish climbing to the top of a brick wall, and continue running across roofs, using his prosthetic legs to make longer jumps. 

         I sighed, and ran after Owen and scrambled up the brick wall, ignoring the pain that came from my prosthetic leg and sprinted across the rooftops after him. “Koa!” I yelled as he ran beside me.

“What?!” He replied as he started gaining distance over me, and pulled out a small tripwire from his jacket pocket. 

           “You've got to stop him and restrain him. Remember he's scared!” I shouted back.

“Yeah, Yeah.” Koa says before taking aim, and throwing the tripwire. Owen looked back too late as it wrapped around his legs, and causes him to stumble and fall, he eventually broke the wire, but we were already almost on him. 

            I leaped across to the next rooftop and slid to a stop in front of Owen, drawing a pair of gloves from my pocket and creating a virtual shield that materialized in front of him and blocked him.

           “All yours Koa. Be nice.” 

            Owen looked frantically from side to side, then looked down as he took the glove off of his right hand. I could barely hear him mutter, “Judgment, please be gentle,” before his hand shot out, forming a spike, hitting the ground below him, and causing him to fall to the floor below him as he put the glove back on, and started running as soon as he hit the ground.

            “How many tricks does this kid have!?” Koa said as he jumped down after him. 

            I followed and sprinted after him.”That wasn't a trick. It was what he told us about.”

             “Ah. Right.” Koa said before stopping, and running in a different direction. “Keep chasing him, I’m going to try something!” 

            I nod and put on a burst of speed until I'm almost right behind Owen. Owen then dropped down, and slid into the ground floor. It looked like a store market. He then stopped running, put his hoodie up, and blended in with the crowd, making me lose track of him.

           I touched my earpiece and said over the line. “I lost him. Do you have any sight of him?”

“I see him. He’s walking back to the car now. Don’t rush him, I’m waiting at the car. Just cut off his escape.” Koa replied. 

           “Okay got it.” I calmly walking back around the building to where Koa was waiting. Owen hadn't appeared yet so I quickly materialized three more shields, one to block his exit, the other to put on the ground and the last one above.

         After placing them all I then stepped back behind the building blocking any view of me. “Shields are in place.” 

Owen walked towards the car, only stopping when he finally saw Koa. He looked around, then sighed. “Well, guess I’m caught, huh?” He said, putting his hands in his pockets. “So, how much trouble am I in?”

Koa then walked forward, putting his hand on Owen’s shoulder. “A lot.” He said before swiftly knocking him out. “We’ll deal with him back at base.” 

I nodded and snapped and the shields dissolved and I then walked over to Koa and we walked back together to his car and we drove back to base. “Where exactly did you find this guy again? Did you see what he put in my trunk?” 

¨He was living on the streets before us, that's really all I can tell you without violating protocol you know that. And no I didn't see what he put in your trunk why?¨ 

“It was mainly books about nanotech, but he also had daggers, a shocking amount of soda, and short swords. Most of it looked new.” 

¨Oh that's really nothing new to me. He probably wanted to replace his injured prosthetics and the soda, well that's normal as well, he probably got his swords repaired.¨

“His prosthetics weren’t damaged, and the books weren’t about how to fix nanotech either.” Koa said as he started pulling into the parking garage. 

¨Well I don't know then. Let me tell AXIS you're visiting.¨ I said as we walked back into base.  ¨Welcome back Dancer.¨ AXIS said. 

¨Hello AXIS Hawk is with me for today.¨ 

¨Alright but you're responsible for him.¨  

¨Alright thanks AXIS.¨ I said, scanning my hand and eye. 

“So, where do you want me to put the kid?” Koa asked, carrying Owen inside. 

           “Umm let's go to his room.” 

“Ok then. Show me the way.” 

            I nodded and walked down several hallways until we reached the on base rooms. I walked down the hallway to the fourth one and opened the door for Koa to go inside. He walks inside, closes the door, and immediately throws Owen against the wall, waking him up. I rush in and stand in front of Owen. 

¨Koa! Stop it. This isn't the way to handle things and you know it!¨ I said, placing the shield gloves on my hands. 

            “Oh calm down, it’s just the one time.  I’ll leave him to you now.” He then turns around and leaves the room, muttering about his car, and cleaning it. 

I sigh and turn to Owen. ¨You do know that what you did isn't okay right?¨ 

            “I said I’d return the car.” He replied. 

¨That's not the problem, the problem is you should have asked him first and taken him or me with you. And what about the stuff in the trunk nanotech?¨

            “First, you were in the hospital, and he was busy playing guard dog. Second, what do you think the books are for?” 

I shook my head, getting angry. ¨Owen! I don't need you contradicting me every step of the way. I am supposed to look after you! I could´ve let him deal with you but I stopped him. Why? Because I care about you get that through your thick head and let me know when you finally understand that.¨ I said, turning on my heel and walking out the door with long angry strides slamming the door behind me. I passed Koa in the hall on my way to the elevator. 

I turned to him briefly for a moment. ¨I need a break.” 

“Just calm down first.” 

¨I just need a break from all of this.¨ I said leaning against the wall in the hallway. ¨Everyone here, it's just hard. It´s work all the time. I don´t get a break except when I´m hurt.¨ 

“You should do what I did then.”  

¨And go where? My parents are gone. I have no family.¨

“I don’t know, vacation?” 

¨I can't leave Owen. I don't have a apartment either I live on base.¨ 

“I know you have enough money saved up if you wanted, and the kid, Ignoring his crime spree, and whatever his prosthetics are, seems like he can handle himself well.” Koa then thinks for a moment, and sighs. “If you need… I’ll come back to S.I.G.N. You seem like you need help anyway.” 

     “Thank you Koa, I've really needed a friend it's been a bit hard here. I.. just don't want to force you to come back unless you want to.” 

“You know me better. No one forces me to do anything.” Koa said with a smile. 

        “ Thank you. Alright you go talk to Top Agent Whitlock, he's in the same office as before and then we can go out to eat.” I said, glancing at my watch,  it was about six o'clock.

            “Alright, you just take a moment to calm down some more.” Koa says before walking away.

          I sighed and started scrolling on my watch to try and find a good place to eat. I stood and waited there for about twenty minutes waiting for Koa to come back. Instead of Koa, I saw Owen walk by. He looked at me for a moment before continuing towards the elevator. “Koa’s busy. He’s touring the place for new additions since he’s last been here. He said it’ll be a while.” He said as he passed me. 

       I stood up and moved in front of the elevator blocking him. “And where are you going?”

“And why does that matter? You’re replacing me anyway.” He says as he steps around you, and walks into the elevator. 

           “I'm not replacing you. He's coming back because he wants too. You will still be my partner.” I call after him before turning away and heading to the training room to work out my frustrations on the punching bag. Before I start I pull out some noise canceling earbuds and hit play on my favorite playlist. The song Careless comes on and I sing softly along to the main chorus. After about two hours Koa put a hand on my shoulder, letting me know he was there. He signaled he was ready to leave.

      I took out my earbuds and put them away. “So what did you think of the updates to base?”

He shrugged. “Could be better, could be worse, you know?” 

          I sighed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. …Owen thinks you're replacing him.”

“Oh. I see. I’ll try to clarify things when I see him again.”

           “Can we not… talk about him? I know I brought him up but…” I let my voice trail off as I looked away from him.

Koa looks at you confused, then sighs and shrugs. “So what do you want to do now?” 

           “Well, are you hungry?” I said walking into the parking garage and tossing him my keys.

He tosses my keys back to me, and pulls out his own. “A little. That tour took longer than I thought.” 

          I laugh. “You were there for about two hours. Of course you're hungry, you're a boy.” I said gently elbowing him playfully. 

“You act like only guys get hungry.” He said as he got into his car. 

           I slid into the front seat next to him. “Of course I do, I met you at a bar after all. Anyways you can choose the place. I'm too tired to argue.” 

           “Alright then.” Koa then drove to a nearby Olive Garden.

         I waited for him to stop the car and then got out and we walked inside together. A waitress greeted us.

         “Hello and welcome to Olive Garden table for two?”  

          I gave her a weary smile. “Yes please.” She then showed us too our table and I ordered what I wanted and Koa did the same. I then slumped down in the chair and let out a long sigh.

           “Alright, what’s wrong with you now? I know that sigh, so don’t say nothing.”

          “Pain and weariness.” I responded, taking a sip of water.

           “That’s not all of it, is it? You know you can’t lie to me, right?” 

          “It's more like I can but I don't. And also I'll be okay after I get some rest.”

           “Astrid, talk. Now.” Koa said, his tone getting serious. “If it was just you being tired, I would know.” 

         “It's about Owen. He… I don't know if he even wants to be my partner. Almost everyday is a challenge with him. Maybe I'm overthinking this.” I said watching as the waitress brought over some breadsticks and I took one and broke off a small piece and put it in my mouth. The flavors of garlic and butter which usually made me happy were unusually bitter tasting. 

           “Most newbies are like that. Even you were. They all just need time to adjust, that’s all. Don’t take it so seriously.” He says before taking a huge bite of his bread. 

        I faked a shocked look. “I was not!”

“Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that.” 

            “Hey! I wasn't that reserved. You'd be scared too if you were partnered with one of the best senior agents that S.I.G.N had!” I said teasing him.

“And now you are one of the best senior agents that they have. And there's the added bonus of him having to deal with whatever his system is. Like I said, you’re not going to build a bond with him right away. These things take time.”

       I sighed and then smiled. “Yeah you're right.” A couple minutes later the waitress set down our food and we began to eat. “So tell me what side job have you been doing?”

“Eh, I didn’t really do any side jobs, outside of favors for friends.”  

            I laughed. “Guess that means I'm paying tonight.”

“I didn’t say I was broke. You should know better. I have tons of money saved up, so I saw no reason to work, when I could just relax, and enjoy life.” Koa said, shrugging. 

           “And I'm still paying for you. There's no reason a friend can't treat a friend.”

           “And since when has the junior paid for the senior? I’m paying.” 

                 “Alright.” I said, taking a bite of food.

           “Glad you accepted.” Koa says as he puts a mozzarella stick in his mouth. 

          I laugh and snatch one from him. My eyes sparkling with mischief. Koa just rolled his eyes, and grabbed another one. 

          “So weren’t  you worried about me getting killed or something?” I teased him before taking another bite of my ravioli. 

          “Killed when, exactly?” 

           “You know when I was working and you didn't know if I was alive or not.” 

          “Why would I be worried? I know you better than that. You’re skilled.” He says as he finishes eating his food, and calls for the check. 

          I finish up my food as well and smile. “You and Whitlock are probably the only people who see me that way.”

          “I doubt we’re the only ones. You just need to have more faith in yourself.” 

           “I guess.” I said,, standing up and walking out the door and standing in the wind.

          Koa walks out a minute later, and looks at you. “Alright, let’s head back. I’m tired.” He says before walking to his car.

         “I'm going to walk back there's some things I need to think through.” I said waving as I walked back in the general direction of base.

          “Alright then. Don’t do anything stupid.” Koa said jokingly before driving off. 

          I kept walking and thinking about my sister. I wonder if she and my mom and dad would be proud of me. I'm sure they would. I told myself but there was this small voice in the back of my mind that said I wouldn't be. I'm sure that I'm just overthinking things. I told myself and soon after about an hour and a half I reached base and went to bed. In the morning there was a knock on my door and I changed into uniform and swept my hair up into a bun and  opened the door to see Koa. I glanced at my watch. It was about five am. “Well I guess you remember our early training sessions.” I said, smirking. 

          “I’m not that old yet, Astrid.” Koa responded with a smile. “Let’s hope you haven’t forgotten what I taught you.” 

           “Of course not. How could I forget when you drilled me every day about it? Although my wrist will probably take a while to heal.” I said grimacing as a jolt of pain shot through my wrist. 

          “Ah. Right. We’ll have to take it easy today. Just basic warm ups, and maybe some simulator stuff. No sparring for a while.” 

          “Yeah.” I said pushing gently past him and heading to the armory to grab a pistol and a couple magazines. As I do, I hear sounds of the simulator being used as Koa walks in beside me.

        I glance around the room, and see Owen using the simulator. “What are you doing here? I thought you didn't like using the simulator?”

          Owen jumps back in surprise, then looks almost disappointed as he quickly turns the simulator off. “Why are you up at five am, much less here? Especially since you still need to heal.” 

          “Koa and I always used to train together.” I shrug. “Old habits die hard.” I say smiling while looking at Koa.

          “Old habits don’t matter when you could be in more pain. You should heal, not look for more excuses to get hurt again.” 

          I stepped back towards the door shocked. “Owen I need to keep in shape you sho-” 

       “Alright, that’s enough, both of you!” Koa says, stepping in between both of us.

       Owen sighs and walks away. “Right. Replacement’s better than me. I’m leaving. Hurt yourself more if you want.” He says before walking out the door. 

       I sigh and look at the floor. “Maybe you coming back to S.I.G.N was a bad decision. He thinks I'm replacing him.” I said turning to leave and go after Owen breaking into a sprint once I found him I sat down next to him. 

         “I'm not replacing you Owen. You're really talented and I think you have a lot of potential. Koa came back because I needed a friend. But he was my old partner, you are my new partner and that's okay. Believe me when I say I won't quit on you, that's not what I'm like.” He still continued to ignore me and I got up to leave but not before looking him dead in the eyes. “Believe me or don't it's your choice but when you're ready I'm here for you.” I said opening the door and leaving the room.

      Koa walks up next to me and pats my shoulder gently, trying to calm me down. I brush his hand off my shoulder and walk away down the hallway to the elevator. The elevator opens to the car garage and I walk out to where a Uber was waiting. The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror and asked. “Where to?” 

         I sighed and replied. “Take me to the Sky Museum.” He nodded and started to take me there. Once we arrived I hopped out of the car and paid and then went inside the museum and straight to the stars display. They had a projector illuminating stars all over the room and today the room was empty which was pretty uncommon. I laid down on my back and stayed there looking at the stars for a good two hours. After that I decided to head back to base and I grabbed dinner from the cafeteria. 

      Tonight's dinner was a small bowl of pasta, a slice of bread, a small part of butter, a small carton of milk, and a bowl of fruit. I took the tray to a secluded table in the corner of the room until I heard someone ask. “Mind if I join you?” I looked up to see Koa standing there, a smile on his face.

¨…sure.¨ I said moving my chair over so he could sit beside me. ¨Can you guess where i went earlier?¨ I said with a teasing smile. 

“I could never guess.” He said teasingly. “I don’t get why you like the projections over the real deal.”

I stopped eating and looked at him. ¨You know why. It's been my dream for the longest time to go see them somewhere but we live in the city unless we drive for like four hours it won't happen. So I get what I can.¨ 

“Vacation is still an option, you know.” 

¨I guess, but what about Owen. He's still not really happy with me.¨

“I don’t know, take him with you? I’m not sure, you know him better than me.” 

I finished eating and tapped my watch and it showed I had about a week of vacation days saved up. ¨Alright, you check your vacation days and I´ll go see if Owen wants to come. I can get us flights by tomorrow you in?¨

“Glad to finally see you take my advice. I haven’t unpacked much, so I’m ready.” 

¨Alright go check your locker in the armory. I left your old pistols in the same place in case you ever needed it. I´ll go see Owen.¨ I turned to leave and went to Owen´s room and knocked on the door. There's no answer. 

I sigh and go look for him outside when I see feet dangling from the side of the roof. I head to the armory and grab some of my tech gauntlets and use the grappler to hop up on the roof. ¨Hey.¨ I say approaching him and sitting down a couple feet away. ¨So Koa and I are going on a trip to go stargazing to relax, did you want to come with?¨

Owen scoots further away from you. “You sure you want me there? I’d just get in the way.” 

I sigh and look at the sky which is turning orange and pink with the sunset. ¨No you wouldn´t. Would you rather it be just you and me? I am sorry I´ve been spending so much time with Koa. You… must've felt excluded and unvalued. Which you aren't. Honestly, you're amazing with the amount of strength you have, you have so much potential that I haven't seen in a long time.¨ I said, giving him a soft smile. 

“Uh huh. I’m used to being excluded, so I don’t need sympathy.” Owen then stands up, looking for the exit for a moment, then sighing. “Fine. When’s this trip?” 

¨Tomorrow, 1:00. Do you want Koa to come or no?¨

“I don’t care. Knowing you, you’ve already invited him anyway.” He says before walking back inside the building. 

I sighed and went back inside and met Koa in the hall. ¨He's in. We need to go shopping really quickly. There´s some equipment we need. Coming?¨ I said walking to the elevator.

“Nah. Most of my gear’s in my bags. I’ll go pick out what we need, while you handle yourself.”

¨Alright you go and I'll pack.¨ I went to my room and threw some shirts and shorts into my duffle bag and grabbed my id and some other personal items. I grabbed a medium sized backpack and threw my headphones and charger, my phone, and charger, and a couple books. I then logged onto a secure website and booked us three tickets to Alaska. I then went to sleep, and in the morning outside my door was a small tent, flint and striker, water purifier and a waterproof sleeping bag. I grabbed another duffle bag and packed it and then headed to check on Owen and Koa knocking on both their doors.

Koa opens his door first, and looks at you with a smile. “Hey. You need anything?” 

           “Nah, just checking to see if you're ready. We’ll be leaving early to get there on time.” I said smiling and gave him a side hug and whispered. “Thanks for doing this, Owen’s a little apprehensive so try to make him feel at home.” 

“Yeah, I’m just about ready, and I’ll be sure to watch out for the kid.”

           “Alright thanks, meet me in the training room in ten.” I said knocking on Owens' door. 

After a minute, Owen opens the door, looking like he just woke up. “What?”

           “You ready to head out in a bit?”

“We’re leaving already?” He said in a yawn. “Let me grab my bag then.” He mumbles before closing the door. 

           I grabbed my three bags and headed to the training room. Koa was already there, and I waited for Owen before speaking. “Alright, does everyone have everything?” Owen shrugs while holding his bag, and Koa gives a thumbs up. 

          “Okay make sure you don't bring any weapons we are flying through the airport so that'd be a major red flag.” I said, crossing my arms. 

“Why not weapons? Also does that include my… robotic attachments?” Owen says, signaling to his arm and legs. 

            “Your arms and legs are fine. No weapons because I just said we are flying in an international airport.” Owen sighs, and drops his swords, along with some daggers. I look over at Koa expectantly. “You too.” 

      “I didn’t have any weapons packed.” Koa says, showing you what’s in each bag to prove it.

        “Alright. I already put my weapons in the armory so let's go. Koa, can you drive?”

“Sure. I don’t mind.” He says as he twirls his car keys around his finger. 

           “Thanks.” I said, giving him a smile. I then headed for the elevator signaling everyone else to follow me. Koa picks up his bags, and walks to his car, while Owen gets into the back seat. I slid into the front seat next to Koa, and put the address into his GPS. I then check my watch, and it's about eleven o clock. Koa then drives to the airport, reaching it in about an hour. We check our bags in and go through security. After that we head to the gate to wait to board. I sigh once we finally sit down in the plane. “Well that was an ordeal.” 

“Yeah, but it’s over now.” Koa says as he gets buckled in. He has the window seat, I the middle and Owen the aisle. I give him a tired smile. “So do you know where we are going?”

“You never said.” Owen says.   

            “It was supposed to be a surprise. We are heading to Alaska.” 

“Why go to Alaska?” 

¨It's supposed to have one of the best places to stargaze.¨

“Ok. Cool.” Owen says before putting headphones on, and leaning back in his seat.

             I sighed and pulled out a bag of candy I got at the airport and tossed it to Koa. “It's your favorite.” Koa grabs it, opens the bag, and puts a piece in his mouth. I also grabbed a can of soda and put it in front of Owen and I grabbed a bag of jellybeans for myself. Owen looks at the soda for a second, then grabs it and opens it with one hand. 

        I smile at them and tap the TV on the back of the seat in front of me and open my jellybean's. The rest of the flight was boring, except for watching movies or listening to music. It was about six and a half hours of flight. Some of the time I talked to Koa or Owen but we mostly just kept to ourselves until we finally landed and grabbed our bags.

             “So, did you actually plan where we will go next?” Owen asked after grabbing his bag.  

             “Yeah we're headed to a nearby safe house that our base here has set up for us agents. You guys wanna eat first?”

“I thought this was a vacation? Why are we heading to an agency safehouse?” Owen said. 

            “There's a couple things I need to grab first. Anyways, are you guys hungry?”

“Sure, I’m hungry.” Koa said, stepping next to me.

Owen crossed his arms. “Fine.” 

            I nodded and tapped my watch for an Uber about fifteen minutes later it arrived. “Where do y'all want to go?” I asked Koa and Owen. 

“Not sure. What is in Alaska anyway?” Koa said. Owen just shook his head. 

           “I’ve heard the Seven Glaciers restaurant is pretty good.” 

“Well, you know better than us, so let’s go.” Koa says, grabbing Owen before he can sneak away. 

            “Actually it's pretty expensive there. I can just make something at the safehouse instead, but it's up to you guys.” I said rubbing the back of my neck.

Owen sighs. “Just pick something.”

Koa jabs his side a bit, then looks at you. “If it’s money that’s the concern, I still have tons of money saved over, so it can’t make that big of a dent.” 

       “Alright then we'll go to the Seven Glaciers restaurant.” I said to the Uber driver who nodded and once we got in started driving.

“So what’s the restaurant like?” Koa asked. 

            “It's supposed to have a really nice view and I've heard that the food is really good.” I said.

“Ah. I see.” Koa said, nodding. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Can we actually go see it now?” Owen asked. 

         “We are almost there.” The driver replied. About five minutes later he pulled in and we walked inside the restaurant. It was very big with different tables but the one we were seated at was the one out looking at the mountains. We opened our menus and ordered and then just sat in silence while we waited for our food. When food finally did arrive, Owen started eating almost immediately, while Koa looked at his food in wonder. 

       I smiled and began slowly eating my food and savoring the amazing flavors that the dish had. I smiled at Koa. “So did I pick a good place or what?”

“Good is an understatement.” Koa said as he started eating his food. Owen nodded his head in response.

            “Good, I'm glad you like it.” I said smiling about an hour later we all finished eating and a Uber came and took us to the safehouse. 

“You never did answer my question about why a government safe house on vacation.” Owen said. 

           “Like I said before I just need to grab a few things.” I said walking up to the house and scanning my hand and retina. It opened and we walked inside. I then went to the armory we had inside and unlocked it and walked inside. I surveyed the weapons there and grabbed a pistol and it's holster and buckled it around my waist and grabbed a couple extra magazines. I then motioned to Koa and Owen to grab whatever weapons they needed.

“I need a better explanation than that.” Owen said, crossing his arms as Koa grabs a couple of pistols. 

            “There isn't really much to explain. This is just for security since we are agents.” 

“Uh huh.” Owen sighs before sitting down. 

            I sighed and sat down next to him. “What's bothering you?”

“You seem to think I’m a fool.” Owen replied. 

           “I don't. I promise you nothing is wrong, this is just for safety.” 

            “Taking an Uber to a safe house is for safety?” 

            “Fair enough but that's not what I was talking about. Anyways, there isn't anything to worry about.” I said, giving him a reassuring smile. 

            “There’s always something to worry about.” 

          “Look Owen I'm sorry this must seem pretty suspicious to you but I swear I never meant for it to seem that way. Let me explain, the reason we are here is because I need a break from work and I've always wanted to go stargazing so I thought it might be a good idea to bring you guys along. I realize you probably think that I'm getting rid of you but I'm not. I've said it before and will say it again, I'm not replacing you and I never will. You may not understand that just yet but I'll have to prove it to you and I will try to do that for as long as it takes.” I said and finished with a long sigh. “Sorry for dragging you out here with me.” 

            “Whatever makes you feel better. Now, I need to see if there's anything here that can figure out what my arm is, so you can hang out with Koa, or whatever it is you two do.” Owen says before turning around, and looking at a nearby bookshelf. 

         I stood up and walked outside onto the patio and sat down on one of the chairs just gazing out over the surrounding meadow silent. I wish there was some way I could get him to trust me more. I guess I'm just not that good at interacting with people. I thought to myself.

A couple of minutes later, Koa walks outside, and sits down next to me. “What’s wrong? Homesick already?” 

           “Not homesick. It's just… I don't know if I'll ever get Owen to trust me. Maybe this was a bad idea, this trip.”

“Just relax, it’ll be fine. You’re here on vacation, so enjoy it.” 

            “I guess, it's just hard for me to understand him. I want to be his friend but he won't let me in.” 

“You can’t force it, or rush it. Yes, talk to him, but don’t expect just words to lead to anything. You need to show him as well.” 

            “I know, I'm trying my best.” I said looking over at Koa. 

“Then just keep doing that.” Koa said with a smile. 

           I smile and give him a side hug. “Thank you, you always know just what to say.” I said softly, giving him a smile.

“Don’t give me too much credit. I just say what makes sense.” 

            “Hey, don't say that you're great at talking to people.” I said playfully, nudging him.

“I only say what’s true. Now, I’m going to bed. It’s late, and that plane ride was long.” Koa says with a yawn as he walks back inside. 

            “Alright, I'm going to retire as well. Good night.” I said walking to one of the rooms and going to sleep. I awoke in the morning and  changed into one of the outfits I packed which was a blue t-shirt and jeans. I yawned and checked my watch. It was seven am. I headed to the kitchen and made a batch of coffee and a little while later about eight o'clock I heard someone walk into the kitchen. It was Owen, both headphones in, and looking to see what breakfast he could eat. 

       I walk over to him and gently tap him on the shoulder. “There's eggs, toast, and bacon. If you want I can make you some.” I said softly. 

            Owen jumps back, before sighing and pulling out his headphones. “What is it?” 

            “Sorry for scaring you. There's some food in the fridge if you want me to make you something.” I said offering him a hesitant smile.

            Owen looks at you, then returns to looking in the fridge. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.”

             “Alright let me know if you need anything.” I hear footsteps entering the kitchen and I turn around to face Koa walking in the kitchen, yawning.

            Owen sighs, grabs a box of cereal, a bowl, and the milk. “I’m eating outside.” He announced before walking out the front door. 

            I sigh sadly for a moment before grabbing a cup of coffee and handing it to Koa. “Did you sleep okay?”

            “Yeah, I slept fine. How about you?” Koa said before sipping on his coffee. 

              “I slept alright. After we all eat we should get going to the campsite.” I said putting a couple of pieces of toast into the toaster. 

            “A campsite? Where is it at?” 

             “It's a couple miles out.” I said grabbing a piece of toast for myself and placing the other in front of Koa.

            “Ah. Nice. Want eggs?” Koa said as he pulled out some eggs, and a frying pan. 

            “Yes please.” I said, smiling at him. 

            “Cool.” Koa said before focusing on the eggs. 

           I remained silent and slid into a chair that was next to the counter just thinking about life. Eventually, a plate slides in front of me with scrambled eggs on them. “Enjoy.”  

          “Thanks!” I said digging in and a couple minutes later I stood up and finished my coffee. “I'll go see if Owen is ready to leave. You pack.” I said opening the front door and heading outside.

After some looking, I find Owen sitting on the roof eating cereal. I smile and head back inside to grab a ladder and climb up on the roof about ten feet away giving him some space. “Hey so will you be ready to go in a little bit?” I asked hesitantly. 

Owen sighs, and looks at you. “Go where, exactly?” 

         “Oh my bad, we aren't staying here. We are going to a campsite because it's better there to stargaze apparently.” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“How much of this is planned out? You seem to be making this up as we go.” 

          “Almost all of it was planned except for the stop here. From the campsite we will spend the rest of the week there.”

“Next time, you should tell us ahead of time… I haven’t unpacked anything, so yes I’m ready to go.” Owen says with a sigh as he stands up, and jumps off the roof before walking back inside. 

         I climb down off the roof and head inside and gather my stuff. I then buckle the pistol holster around my waist and make sure I have extra magazines with me. I turn to Koa “You ready?”

“Of course.” Koa replies. 

             “Good. I texted you the location and does everyone have everything they need?”

“You’re asked that already. Let’s just go.” Owen says before Koa taps his shoulder. 

           I turn to both of them giving Koa a look before tossing him his keys and walking to the car. Koa starts the car, and looks at you. “You never told me exactly where we’re going.” 

         “We are headed to Eklutna Lake. It's supposed to be beautiful at night and one of the best stargazing places.” 

         “Ah. Uh, do you want to drive? I don’t know where I’m going.” Koa said sheepishly. 

          I laugh and hand him his phone. “Relax, I put the direction's in your GPS.” 

         “When did you get a hold of that? I know I didn’t give that to you.” 

          “You don't pay enough attention to me K. You know better than to leave me alone for less than a minute.” I teased him playfully.

         “You know you’re setting a bad example for Owen.” Koa says teasingly before looking at his phone, and getting ready to drive. 

          “I can't be that bad of an example, he's got you for that.” I said smiling.

          “Are you going to drive, or do I need to leave the car, and start walking?” Owen asked, sounding annoyed.

         I put on a straight face and stop teasing him. “No he’ll drive, sorry about that, Owen.” 

          “No you’re not.” Owen said before turning too look out the window, and putting on his headphones.

          Koa sighs, starts the car, and begins driving. I glance at Koa for a minute, my gazee sad and then turn to look out the window, staying silent until after about an hour we reach a gas station and I hop out and put my card in the machine to pay for the gas. Owen also gets out of the car, and walks inside the gas station.

          I sigh and turn to Koa for a moment. “Do you want something to eat or drink?”

          “Nah, I’ll be fine. Are you going to go get something?” 

           “Nah, I'm not hungry.”

          “Ok then. I’m going to take a quick nap.” Koa says before pulling his jacket over his face.  

           I sighed and got back into the car and settled into my seat and waited about twenty minutes later Owen got back in the car. “Get anything good?” I asked in a quiet voice.

“For me, yes. For you, no.” Owen replied.

       “I didn't ask you to get anything for me did I?” I said raising an eyebrow with a quizzical look on my face. 

           “And I didn’t ask you to leave the car in the first place. Your point?” 

           “What are you talking about? I only left to pay for the gas.” 

           “Never mind. Let’s just go. You sure sleeper boy should be driving?” 

          “He should be alright. Do you want me to drive instead?”

           “Just make sure he isn’t asleep at the wheel.” Owen said before lightly punching the driver’s seat, waking Koa up.

           Koa sat up, and put his jacket back on. “I’m up. Is everyone good to go?”

           “Yeah we're good.” I said glancing back at Owen with a smile.

           Koa nods his head, starts the car, and gets driving again. 

            After about another four hours of driving we reached the lakeside. It was a sight to behold. The lake was a deep navy blue and the lake shore had tiny glass different colored pebbles that shone in the sunlight. “Well what do you guys think?” I asked turning to Koa and Owen.

            “It’s an amazing sight.” Koa said, his gaze locked on the lake.  Owen sighed, and started setting up his tent. 

            I let out a small laugh and then playfully punched Koa in the shoulder. “Come help me set up my tent.” I said grabbing my equipment out of the car.

            “I thought you already learned how to set up your own tent?” Koa asked as he grabbed his equipment. 

           “Go help Owen then. I'm gonna get started on dinner after I set up my tent.” I then set up my tent and my equipment and set to work building a safe fire circle that was near the water. I grabbed my flint and striker and lit the branches and twigs I had gathered. I then grabbed some meat from the cooler and a pan and grilled the meat and also grilled some vegetables. I then turned and told Koa and Owen it was time for dinner. 

            Koa walked up to the fire, waiting for food. Owen just looked over, then went inside his tent.

           I smiled and handed Koa a plate of food and then fixed another knocking on Owen’s tent door. “It's me. I brought you some food.” I called softly.

            “I’ll eat later.” Owen said back. 

             “Okay… just please make sure you eat something later.” I said placing the food near his tent flap and grabbing my own plate and moving to sit with Koa. I let out a small sigh and sat next to him on a log.

            “Do you need to be sad after every talk with him?” Koa asked. 

            “It's not him. I'm missing my family.”

            “It’s ok to miss them. I hope you know that.”

           “Yeah I know. How's your family doing?”

            “You forgot already? Don’t have one.” 

             “Sorry. That's right I forgot you met me on the streets.” 

            “You don’t need to apologize. It’s fine. Age catches up to us all.” 

             “Hey! I'm only twenty-three I'm not that old.” 

            “I’m not old either, and it doesn’t stop you from making those jokes.” 

             “Fair enough. Did you get enough to eat?” I asked, standing up with my plate in hand.

            “Yeah.” He said as he pointed to his empty plate. “Did you eat enough?” 

           “I ate what I needed to.” I said, grabbing his plate and taking it down to the water, washing it in the waves when suddenly Koa pushed me in the water, laughing the entire time. 

         I glared at him then splashed him with water soaking him completely. “You want to do this, let's do it then!” I said, smirking.

           “Oh, it’s on!” He says before splashing me again. 

          I smile and charge at him pushing him into the waves and let go and run back the other way so he can't grab me.

           Koa grabs my leg, and pulls me towards him before splashing me again. “Don’t try to run!”

           I laugh and jerk my leg free of his grasp and splash a huge wave of water at him, hitting him in the face. Koa ignores the splash, and continues to splash me. I continue splashing him until he gets tired for a moment and run towards the shore to try to escape. I walked out onto the shore and tied my hair back and changed in my tent. 

      That night after I had settled down to sleep my watch dinged. I glanced at the message and groaned quietly. I changed into my regular clothes and grabbed my combat gloves and quietly slipped out into the frigid air. I moved silently past Koa and Owen’s individual tents and slipped into the forest. 

       After about ten minutes a person cleared their throat and stepped out in front of me. I was in a large empty clearing about three miles out from camp and the person was dressed in navy blue clothes with black gloves, raven black hair and some simple daggers strapped to a belt around their waist. Only the moonlight illuminated their face. 

          “Haven.” I greeted her simply, a scowl playing across my features. 

           “Astrid.” She replied, grabbing a dagger off her belt and playing with it aimlessly tossing it in the air and catching it. “You know it's time again for me to offer you to rejoin The Vincore Foundation.” 

           “I thought you already knew my answer. It's no.” I sighed. “C’mon I know you need a blood sample to prove that you found me.” Haven smirked and stepped close to me and quickly slashed open my shoulder a large bleeding gash lay where she had wounded me. 

          She wiped a drop of blood into a vial and stepped back but not before punching me in the face. I stepped forward towards her and punched her shoulder and moved quickly behind her, my hand resting on the back of her neck, one of the most vulnerable pressure points. 

          “That's enough.” I snarled and lifted my hand from her neck. 

          “You've gone soft Ice. You used to be so much more than you are now. It's a shame you won't rejoin us.” She said swiftly punching me in the gut and slashing at my forehead all in one quick fluid movement. 

          I leaned backwards barely avoiding getting hit in the forehead and aimed a swift kick at her feet making her stumble temporarily. I then punched her in the face and stood back waiting for her to stand up. 

           “This meeting is over, get out of here.” I said sidestepping the punches she aimed at me.

          Haven stepped forward and grabbed my leg causing me to fall and hit the ground. I stood up and kicked her in the chest, pushing her backwards. She retaliated by throwing a dagger straight at my throat. I was slow in my reaction time so it almost hit me. She kept throwing daggers at me until I was backed into a corner. I swore and tried to think of a way to escape but nothing came to mind. Suddenly bullets hit the ground in front of Haven,clearly warning shots, but still enough to get her to back up as Koa landed in between myself and her, pointing both of his pistols at Haven. “Well now, who do we have here, Astrid?” 

         “Haven.” I said moving to step out from behind him. 

          “Bringing backup huh Astrid? You know what that means.” She said with a smile spreading across her face. 

          I turned to Koa, “Go, she'll only hurt me more if you're here. I don't care what you think, go protect Owen and yourself. Otherwise she'll call the rest.” I said pulling on my gloves and creating a virtual sword. 

          “Yeah right. Like I’m leaving you here in that state. Besides, the kid’s handling himself well at the moment, so instead of arguing, why don’t you and I handle her, so we can go back and help Owen, yeah?” He says before spinning his guns around, and pointing them at Haven. 

          “I'm fine I've suffered worse injuries.” I said before catching a dagger in my hand that Haven threw at me. I stepped forward and punched her in the shoulder but she grabbed my fist and was about to slice my other arm.

         “Just go back to the Vincore Foundation and this will all be over.” 

         “That's not happening, I wonder do you know why I want to stay?” 

         “No?” 

          “It's a shame you can't remember anything about when you were younger. You know I knew your parents pretty well. Well enough to take advantage of them and kill them.” She said as a wicked smile played across her face.

         I froze and she stepped in front of me. “...what no I thought you said it was a hit and run. You killed them?!” I asked, my voice trembling and hot tears spiking the corners of my eyes.

    "Yep," a crooked smile spread across her face as she saw the betrayal in my eyes and she began to laugh. "Oh. You really thought I was your friend." She taunted, "Shame.” 

          Koa interrupts the attack by shooting at Haven, many of the bullets grazing her as she attempts to move out of the way. “Astrid, now’s not the time to get distracted!”

          “SHUT UP! You don't know how this feels.” I retorted and rushed to meet Haven aiming an uppercut to her face and it connected. I then hit her in the stomach and turned away before I lost control. “Now leave. If you say one more thing I will lose it. The only thing stopping me from hurting you more right now is him.” I said pointing to Koa. 

          Haven opened her mouth to say something but clearly thought the better of it and throwing one last dagger that hit me in the lower arm she left. I yanked it out of my arm and walked past Koa to camp. At camp, most of the tents were ripped, and knocked down. Owen was sitting in front of what was left of the campfire as he clutched his left arm. 

        I broke into a run and slid to a stop in front of Owen. “What the heck happened here?!” 

        Owen immediately stands up, and takes a step back. “Those people that showed up, they were after you. Explain why. Now.” 

        “I used to be their top assassin. They want me to rejoin. I had no idea they'd go this far. I'm leaving stay with Koa he’ll take you back to S.I.G.N.” I said grabbing a pistol and walking out of camp and down the road the opposite way from HQ. No more danger for them. No more getting innocent people hurt.

        Before I could get far, Koa’s hand landed on my shoulder, stopping me. “Alright, that’s enough of that. Think, they already know we’re connected to you, so we’re targets now anyway. Leaving just leaves all of us more vulnerable. Also you’re in no condition to make any rash decisions.” 

        I shoved his hand off my shoulder. “You don't even know how this works. They only want me if I leave, they won't hurt you. I know this because I was one of them. I'm fine, I have money, I can get myself patched up.” 

        “That’s not how assassin groups typically work. If you go missing, they’ll just come after us anyway, since we’re the most likely to have information on you, you understand?” 

       “I don't care!! I just… just leave me alone!!” I yelled and pushed past him and ran into the heart of the forest and collapsed. I took huge deep breaths to try and stop the tears that were falling down my face but to no avail. I felt like my heart had been snapped in two. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.  

        After a couple of minutes, Owen walks in, and leans against a tree. “We’re leaving now. Let’s go.” 

       “Ok. I'll meet you there in a couple minutes.” I said standing up and wiping away my tears and steeling myself against what I would see next. I walked out to the car and sat in the back seat and stared out the window waiting for us to leave.

        “So where to now?” Koa asked from the driver’s seat as Owen sat down in the passenger seat.

       “Headquarters.” I said placing my earbuds in and listening to music. 

        “We’re still in another country. And even if we weren’t, there’s no guarantee that we wouldn’t lead this organization of yours wouldn'ta just follow us back to headquarters.” 

        “Then we keep moving. Let's go to the safehouse tonight and then move on from there.” 

      Koa nodded and we reached the safehouse by nightfall.  I then went to my room. I knew that I should eat but I didn't feel like it and so I curled up into a ball and sat in my room staring at the wall.

       After a while I got up and placed my pistol in its holster and stood up. I checked my watch and it was about one am. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a med kit and sat down to start to treat my wounds. I opened the lid of the kit and grabbed an alcohol wipe, med tape bandages and gauze. I winced as I began to clean the dried blood and dirt from around my shoulder wound and gritted my teeth in pain. As I cleaned the wound I noticed a light coming from underneath Owens door. I walked quietly down the hall and knocked on his door.

        After a moment, Owen opened his door, not looking tired, and holding a screwdriver in his left hand. “What are you doing up?”

       “Patching myself up. What are you doing?”

        “Nothing that involves you. What do you want?”

        “Oh, I just needed some help with my shoulder wound if you wouldn't mind.” I said, turning my head away and rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly.

        “And you didn’t ask Koa first? How shocking.” He says as he tosses the screwdriver behind him. “Alright then. Let’s get this over with quickly.”

       “Thank you. Come with me.” I said, stepping into the kitchen and giving him the medkit.

        “Don’t make it sound like we’re going on a walk. I’m doing this, and then heading back to my room.” 

        “Okay my bad.” I said, rolling up the sleeve of my t-shirt to reveal the long gash on my shoulder. Owen took a good look at it, then took the medkit from my hand, and first applied bacitracin, then put a piece of gauze over it and used a piece of medical tape to make it stick, then finally wrapped it with an ace bandage.  

        “Thank you. I'll handle the rest of them from here.” I said gently, taking the medkit from him and rolling up my pant leg to reveal another gash on my leg which I started to treat. 

        Owen simply shrugs his shoulders, and starts to walk back to his room.

          After I had finished patching up the rest of my wounds I went to sleep and got up early. It was still night out, so I grabbed my bow and arrows and stepped outside into the frigid night air keeping watch over the safehouse. After a couple hours and dawn was starting to spread over the horizon, Owen stepped out onto the porch, holding a cup of coffee, and looking at you. “It’s about time for you to head in. Also pack your things. Koa wants to leave here soon.” 

       “Alright I'm ready, let me just grab my stuff.” I walked inside and past Koa and grabbed my duffle bags full of stuff and put them in the car. I sat in the backseat of the car and waited for the others to join me. 

       Eventually, Koa gets in, and starts the car as Owen gets in the passenger seat shortly afterwards. Immediately after Owen gets in, Koa starts driving. “Astrid, I’ve told Owen already, but right now, the plan is to go to random countries, stay in each one for like a day, leave, repeat, and eventually head back to headquarters. Any objections?”

         “No of course not why would I have any objections. And stop calling me Astrid. ” I said with a sarcastic undertone. I sighed and turned my head to look out the window and remained like that until we reached a gas station. I got out and grabbed an energy drink, some gum, and a packet of almonds. Owen took the opportunity to claim the backseat, and pulled out a book to read while Koa waited outside, pumping the car with gas.

       I sighed and slid into the passenger seat and put my earbuds in, opened the pack of almonds, and ate some. Koa stepped into the car once he finished getting gas, and continued driving to the airport.

       Several hours later we arrived at the airport and got onto the airplane. I was seated next to Owen with Koa on my left. We all breathed a sigh ofof relief and settled down to wait until we got to our destination. About three hours later we landed in Hawaii, before we went to the car rental, got a car and drove to yet another safehouse. Once we arrived I grabbed my bags out of the car and waited until the others got their stuff. 

       I then turned to Koa and Owen. “I'm going to go pick up some food what do you guys want?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m grilling soon!” Koa said with a smile on his face.

            “Do you want some help?” I said, pausing  to turn and look at Koa.

“You know how to grill?” He said with a chuckle as he looked in the fridge. “I’m just playing with you, help out if you want.” 

           I laughed and went to put my stuff in my room. After that I went outside and stepped onto the back porch. Surprisingly, this safehouse had a pool, a small table, chairs, and a fire pit. 

         “Hey Koa and Owen you gotta come see this!” I called out to them. I then took off my shoes and put my feet in the water which was cool and felt great.

Koa walked out a minute later, holding a tray of meat as he walked to the fire pit, and started lighting it. “Oh, you found the pool now. Nice. It’s definitely a nice view.” 

          “It's amazing. Do you need any help?”

“Sure. There’s another tray inside. Can you get that one for me?”

             “You got it.” I replied walking inside and grabbing the other tray of meat. I then walked outside and handed it to Koa. 

             “If you do anything stupid while we stay here I'm pushing you in that pool.” I teased him.

“I should be telling that to you, Astrid.” He said back before setting up a grill rack over the fire he just lit.

             “That's fair. Sorry for putting you and Owen in that situation if not for me we wouldn't be on the run right now.” I said, glancing away from him.

“Dude, stop the self pity, alright? No one’s blaming you for anything.” 

            “Alright, I'm sorry.” I said walking over to the grill. “Do you want me to play some music?”

“I don’t really care. Do what you want.” He says before putting some steaks and hotdogs on the grill.

           “...are you mad at me?”

“That’s a random question. Why would you ask that?” 

            “You just sounded a little off.” I replied before stepping back into the pool.

“I did? How did I sound off?” 

            “You just sounded frustrated with me.”

“When did that happen? I’m not frustrated with anything right now.”

             “Oh okay. Never mind then.” Koa shrugs, and returns to grilling steaks. 

            I then turned and headed back inside the house and changed into my swimsuit. After I changed I walked outside and dove into the pool with the cool waters enveloping me. “Hey, the water’s great!” I called Koa as I swam around in the water. 

“I’ll join once I’m done grilling!” Koa called back.

           “Okay! You should ask Owen if he wants to join us.” I said before taking a deep breath and diving all the way down to the bottom of the pool. 

           After a couple minutes I swam up to the surface of the pool and sat on the edge of the pool. 

           “Is the food ready yet?” I asked Koa.

Koa then tosses a paper plate in front of you, with a cooked steak, and two hot dogs. “Why don’t you taste them and find out?” 

         “Thanks Koa.” I said before taking a bite of the steak  it's delicious flavors seeped into my mouth. “It's really good!” I said with a smile. 

“You say that like you expected it to be bad.” Koa says sarcastically as he starts to put out the fire he was using. 

            “No I didn't mean it like that. Sorry.” I said taking another bite of the food.

“It’s just a joke, Astrid. You don’t need to apologize for everything.” 

             “Ok.” I said finishing up the rest of my food and started to get back in the pool. 

             “You coming?” I teased. 

“As soon as I’m done with putting the rest of the food up. I am not wasting a good barbecue.” Koa said back. 

           “Fair enough.” I replied.