Zero.

Chapter Three

Day 10

"I LOOK hideous" Grace complained for about the hundredth time. We were waiting for our cars to arrive to take us to the airport. Today we would be leaving to Chicago and our mission would officially begin. We had 80 days until completion. I smoothed out the yellow skirt I wore and glanced over at Grace who was fussing with her black collar.
"How can you be worried about appearance, right now?" I wondered.
"Why wouldn't I be? At least you look kind of cute, I on the other hand look like a truck driver."
"At least you don't have to worry about hiding your gun, your pants are so loose you could probably fit an arsenal in there" I responded sweetly. She glared at me, her brown contacts not holding the usual depth her geen eyes had.
"I will shoot you." She threatened.

"You could try" I countered.
We both knew from the countless times we trained together that it was a futile effort to fight each other. We both ended up winded and bloody, but refusing to relent. The fights went on until Chief usually stopped us. I never admitted it, but I was relieved that One was my equal. It meant that I never had to worry about her on the field.

"I would, but I'm sure Benjamin Lee would be disappointed if his new intern didn't arrive"
I rolled my eyes, "I'm sure you'll be a shoo in with all the nerds down at IT"
She returned my glare. I smiled back. "I'm sure I will. I don't understand why Chief's making such a huge deal of this. He knows we're the best, we've never lost." My smile faltered at her words. She didn't remember, but there was a time that we had almost lost.

We had been stationed in a terrorist bunker. The goal was to destroy a nuclear bomb that could kill thousands. We didn't know if there were plans to use it, but HQ decided that the weapon was too dangerous to risk. We were supposed to go in unseen and destory the weapon and any associated blueprints. The only ones harmed were supposed to be the ones who resisted.
The mission wasn't supposed to get messy, but we got an unsuspected surprise. Before we could register that our cover had been blown, the bunker was swarmed with people.

That was the tricky part of the job, sometimes it seemed like in order to be good, we had to be monsters.

I never got the chance to analyze if they were terrorist or civilians who had wandered too close. One and I acted on instinct. We were American spies on enemy soil in a time of supposed peace. If we had been discovered it would have started a full blown war. So we killed everyone in the tiny space in only a few minutes.
The blood stains had never come out of my uniform.
Chief had praised us for destroying the weapon, never asking us if we ran into complications, so we never told him. While I Slept, that memory loved to haunt me the most.
One glanced at me, but didn't comment on my silence. I suppose she was used to my mood swings. Times like this I wished I could tell her, but I never would. She didn't deserve to be haunted by those memories.

There wasn't much I could protect her from, but I could shield her from this.

"Guess it's showtime" she mumbled
The cars pulled up and we made our way to them. Hunching her shoulders, she glanced at me one last time and nodded. We weren't ones for sentiments, but the nod said it all: Don't die and be careful. I nodded back, adjusting my glasses and walking to the car that would take me to my new identity.

***
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