Code Name: Academy

Chapter 1

I look at the man sitting across from me and frown.

"You want me to build what kind of team, exactly?" I ask.  "I understand the need for a unit like this, but why the age restriction?"

He steeples his fingers, the portrait of repose.  I don't let it fool me.  Major General Phillip Roberts is a calculating bastard who will plot every minutia to manipulate events to his desired outcome.  He's nobody's grandfather.

"Owen, this unit will need to blend in.  There's nothing more nondescript in the world today than being a college student abroad.  I already have your first team member chosen for you."

A knock sounds at the door and a young man, about my age, with sandy blond curly hair and mischief written all over his face enters.  I stand and offer one of my rare true smiles to him. 

"Sean," we shake hands and sit.  "It's been too long!  How's the practice going?" 

He smirks at the look on Phil's face.  "It's been a week, Owen."  He says dryly. He eyeballs my attire.  "I've decided to go a different route.  As have you, if the uniform is any indication."

The Major clears his throat and looks back and forth between the two of us. 

"I gather you know one another." His eyes take on a look of calculation and he shakes his head.

Sean full out belly laughs.

"Yes, sir," I forcibly refrain from rolling my eyes at my friend.  "We were roommates at Exeter."

The older man's eyebrows raise and he shuffles through the paperwork before him.

"Though we are quite different from one another," I continue, figuring that transparency is best, "we became family."

"How did my analysts miss this?" he mumbles to himself.

Sean finally manages to get his mirth under control.  "Different, right."  He looks at me and I shoot him a glare saying, "Oh no, you wouldn't!"

"Owen was so stiff and formal that I just wanted to push him into the mud to make him more human."  He winks at me and I relax slightly.  "He made me quit smoking.  I made him eat a candy bar."

My spine stiffens, but he doesn't expand on it.  Thank God.  I don't mind my superior knowing about that little tid bit.  I'm more concerned about the HOW.

Sean would only agree to stop smoking if I would complete a dare of his choosing.  By that time, we were already brothers in all but name, and I would have done anything to ensure his health. 

Sean swore that he'd up his intake of cigarettes to two packs a day if I didn't jump up onto a table in the faculty dining hall and eat a Snickers.  Nude.

I earned a month's worth of detentions for the stunt, but Sean, in true Sean Green form, jumped up right after and began singing bawdy sea shanties, earning him a seat right beside me for the duration.

"Yes, well," he clears his throat again. It's rare to see the Major so flustered.  "Back to the matter at hand."  He pulls on his mantle of authority and I'm surprised at the change it affects in my long time friend.  "I need you two to assemble a team of special forces.  As you know, the situation in the refugee camps in Greece is deplorable.  Children are dying and being sold into slavery at an alarming rate.  We cannot act quickly enough through bureaucratic channels, so I've been given the go-ahead to oversee a small group that can infiltrate and disband any criminal enterprises through covert means."

I share a look with my friend.  "And how long do we have to assemble said team?" I inquire.

"You'll have a week.  There's a college aid workers group shipping out next Monday, and I want you to go in with them."