The Agents

Chapter One

"What are you going to do after the meeting today?" Jennifer asked.

I pushed the hidden button on the side of the pillar and the panel opened up. Laying my hand on the scanner, I replied, "I have a ton of work that needs to get done."

"Of course you do," Aaron said with a roll of his hazel eyes.

I gave him a droll stare and motioned for him to go into the newly revealed passageway. He chuckled and stepped passed me. Jennifer hid a laugh of her own and followed shortly behind with Stacey right at her heels. I walked in after them and the door slid back into place.

"Come on, Carter! You are a twenty-two year old dark haired beauty! You should be going out with your friends and having a good time, not working every single night," Jennifer exclaimed.

After the retinal scan at the next panel, the door opened and we walked through. I snorted, "As much fun as that sounds, I have to work."

"Good morning Agent Carter. Jennifer, Stacey, Aaron; it is good to see you," Carl said as he did a scan of us to confirm our identities. The next door slid open.

"Hey Carl!" Jennifer said cheerfully. "What kind of pie do we have today?" An x-ray was taken to see if we were carrying any unauthorized tracers.

"I believe Miss Crystal baked an apple pie today, Jennifer," Carl replied politely, being the mannered super-computer that he was. We reached the end of the passageway and stopped to stand in front of the large steel door. Carl opened it and we stepped through.

We were met with a large room with metallic silver walls. There were cubicles along one wall and a counter with a kitchen set up on the other wall. There was a long table in the middle of the room surrounded by chairs.

Some of the chairs were occupied by agents who had already arrived. Victoria and her boyfriend, Austin, were sitting on one side of the table laughing loudly about something. Josh and Anna were sitting next to them, quietly chatting. As promised, there was an apple pie sitting in the middle of the table for after the meeting.

Jennifer, Aaron, and Stacey joined the others at the table while I walked past to the far side of the room where there was a door leading to the bathrooms and the back exit. I stopped at a cage next to a door. Inside was a bulldog.

"Hey Xavier! How's it going boy?" I asked while opening the cage. Xavier came running out and jumped on me, his front paws resting on my legs where I was crouched. He licked my hand and sniffed the pocket of my leather jacket. I chuckled, pulling out the dog biscuit. "Looking for this?" He looked at me pleadingly and I  gave him the treat, patting him on the back while he ate it.

"I just don't get it!" Josh exclaimed from the table.

I looked behind me to see all of them staring at me. "Get what?" I asked, confused.

"How he lets you get so close to him. If the rest of us try to do that, he'll bite off our fingers!" Josh explained. To prove his point, Xavier looked up and growled at him.

I just shrugged and said, "He likes me better."

"It's more than that. It has to be," Stacey stated.

I looked down at the dog in front of me, my mind started racing through past memories. My voice sounded far away as I said, "It's just how we trained him."

"Who is we?" Jennifer asked, somehow knowing they were missing something important that I wasn't telling them.

Just then, the door to the only actual office among all the cubicles opened. An older lady, around 50, walked out wearing long flowing clothes and a long braid dyed a blondish-brown hanging over her shoulder. "Well, I best be off!" she said in a sing-song voice. I put Xavier back in his cage and stood up. Crystal walked over to me and gave me a hug. "I know how you get this time of year, just take it easy and remember we are here for you." I nodded in response to her whispered comment. "Don't work too hard, dear," she said louder.

I gave her a half smile and said, "Me? Never!"

She chuckled as she walked out through the door leading to the back exit, calling out one last goodbye.

The door to the office opened again and another older woman, about the same age, walked out. She had on a business suit and her hair was cut short and completely gray.

I walked over and sat on the part of the counter closest to the table. "And what were you two doing behind closed doors?" I asked sarcastically. Wallace and Crystal had been together for four years and were still in the "honeymoon" phase. I liked to tease Wallace about their relationship. I was the only one that was allowed to, though.

"If I didn't need you so badly to close cases..." Wallace trailed off, shaking her head. I just smirked. She sat down at the head of the table, which was right next to where I was sitting. I threw my feet up on the counter and leaned back on my hands. My combat boots made a loud thump as they landed.

"So, what tragically boring news do we have to discuss today?" I asked. I looked over at Victoria since she usually liked to run the meetings. She was glaring at me like I was no better than the dirt under her expensive shoes.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. She shook her head a little before saying, "Well, we busted a rather large drug deal yesterday at the south corner of the campus." I clenched my fist at how accomplished she sounded. If only she knew how silly all these little cases were compared to what we used to do before all the suits took over.

"Very good. Anything else?" Wallace asked.

"We have a new tip that seems legitimate so far."

"Okay, just put the information on my desk after the meeting." Wallace said, sounding strange.

I was pondering what could have caused Wallace to act like that, so I missed everyone going around the table saying what they contributed from this week. I also missed Victoria asking me what I had done. However, the clearing of a throat caught my attention, and I looked up to see everyone staring at me for the second time today.

"And what did you do to contribute to our VERY IMPORTANT cause, Carter?" Victoria asked.

I scoffed, "Important cause? All we do is keep college students from getting the high they so desperately want."

"What we do changes things for the better!" Victoria screeched. Something in her voice sent me off the edge.

"No! No it doesn't! It doesn't change a darn thing!" I yelled. At this point, I had jumped up from my lounging position on the counter. I was standing with one fist clenched tight and the other pointing an accusatory finger at Victoria. Everyone was staring at me shocked at my outburst. It was so different from my usual laid back, not a care in the world attitude. I was shocked to. Crystal's timing was perfect with her warning about this time of year affecting me.

"Carter, are you okay?" Jennifer asked, concerned.

"I'm sorry, but I can't be here right now," I said gruffly.

I dropped my arm and turned on my heel, marching towards the door next to Xavier's cage. My body was stiff from tension as I threw open the door before marching through and slamming it behind me.  On my left were the bathrooms. In front of me was the back exit that led to a small parking lot. On my right was a blank wall. I marched over to it and ran my hand down it in a specific pattern. The rock work swung out to reveal a door. I punched in the code on the panel and the door swung inwards.

I stalked through the doorway and into the elevator. The door and wall slid back into place and the elevator took me down.