Octagon Project 1: Melody Halloway

~-20-~

"Is everything alright?" Vanessa asked, looking around at everyone's serious expressions as the boys shut off the TV. Mel shut the folder she was overviewing and grabbed Vanessa's wrist and dragged her into Abigail's old room where Vanessa was now staying. Sliding open the white closet door, Mel grabbed a black turtleneck long sleeve and pants before grabbing Abigail's old leather jacket and throwing them onto the bed with a pair of combat boots she knew Vanessa would fit.

"Get dressed. " Mel ordered, leaving no space for Vanessa to say anything as she left the room immediately and walked into her own where she got dressed in the same clothing. The long sleeve though, she had cut the turtle neck off in disliking. Pulling her frizzy dark brown hair into a slick ponytail, she walked out and slid open the closet door in the living room, grabbing a pistol and tucking it into its holster which she had strapped to her hip and grabbed her two favorite long 9 inch knives and inserted their sheaths into the sides of her tall combat boots and slid the blades into place. As Zack came into the living room, he was wearing the same clothing as her and was strapping his thigh pouch onto his outer right thigh before slipping his dagger into the slot. Roy, Justin, Dean, and Vanessa approached then too, all dressed similarly. Mel tossed a gun to Dean and Justin and handed Roy the belt of throwing knives he enjoyed before giving him a gun. Zack checked the magazine of his own before putting it in its place at the back of him.

"Let's get this done." He said. Vanessa looked around in surprise as Dean shut the magazine of his own gun and concealed it. Mel approached Vanessa and all the boys stopped to watch. Vanessa looked down at the silver gun Mel held in her hands as though it were a peace offering.

"I don't think I should..." She began, looking for Justin to back her up.

"Vanessa, this is your life now. Take the damn gun, keep it, and be ready in case you need to use it." Mel said sternly. Slowly, Vanessa grabbed the gun and Justin showed her the best and easiest way to have it where it was easy to grab.

"Zack and I will take the bike. We'll see you guys at headquarters." Mel said. Roy gave a swift nod and they left the house. Everyone piled into the car and Zack hopped onto the back of Mel's motorcycle as she started the ignition.

"This is a high-class mission. Top priority and in no place to play around." McHall informed as every agent was seated at the large rectangular table in the conference room of the Octagon's Headquarters. Mel quickly handed McHall the file she wrote and he gave her a nod after reading the subject title. "We had a Division go to the B.L.A.K headquarters location provided by our sources. This is the second site we've turned up empty at. Either we have poor sources, which is likely not the case, or our subjects are moving."

"So, why are we here?" One of the guys from Division Two that clearly was just about as impatient as Mel spoke up. McHall was silent for a moment so that he wouldn't snap.

"If you read my message, this was titled as an informative meeting. If you have a problem with that, well, then you really aren't as much of an agent as I thought you were." The boy knew better than to reply as he fell silent and McHall proceeded. "For the pairs that are out on track and report, beware who you're near and around. B.L.A.K could be anyone, anywhere. And if they have access to cameras around the city, they may be able to find visual recognition of our agents. We also have a belief that there may be a mole in the agency, but don't take that too seriously. Agent Melody Halloway from Division Four has received some fair amount of information which I will add to the files for agents in combat. Divisions Four and One I need you in my office for debriefing after this." McHall looked around the room, scanning faces to look for any questions. Where there was none, he called out "dismissed" and a clatter arose as everyone left the room in a crazy mass.

Mel and Zack led everyone into the waiting room outside of McHall's office where Division One Agents sat as well. One of the girls gave Mel a respectful nod with a big smile. Fan? 

"Division Four. " McHall said as he walked into his office. Mel and Zack stood first and the others followed as they walked into the small room. "You guys are in combat. Melody and Zack, you're our point men. Royce, I need you on coms. Dean and Justin, you two are back up unless I call you anywhere else. Vanessa, you will be training here with a few other new recruits for the week. But tonight I want you to fall in with agent Royce. Clear?" Vanessa nodded hastily and Mel's jaw ticked. McHall took that hint and excused the group. As Zack was about to leave, Mel grabbed his arm and kept him in place.

"You're giving us a rookie in the middle of a battle ground." She grumbled. McHall shrugged.

"Melody, for you two, it's a play ground. We both know that. And Zack had you in combat during a mission that you missed the debriefing of when you first joined."

"First off, I didn't join. I was kidnapped. And second, I was already fairly experienced in the field. You're giving us a clean slate of a girl that's only held a gun once in her life!" Zack had to agree. It could slow them down or worse.

"It's really not going to be any help for us to have her." He stated, backing Mel up. McHall looked at him in surprise.

"I didn't think you'd support this Zachary. " McHall said. Zack shrugged in response.

"She could end up exposing us." He justified.

"She's in follow with Royce. Not on the direct field with you two. Now go. I have another Division to debrief." He said, handing Mel the file. She snatched it out of his hand and walked out angrily to the car where everyone else was waiting. She handed Roy the file and hopped onto her motorcycle with Zack closely behind.

"See you at the house. We'll go over the file and leave shortly before sundown." She announced, pulling on her helmet and revving out onto the road with all the fury building up inside of her so strongly it was almost closing her airways. They got there much sooner than the others did and Mel stormed into the house.

"Mel, calm down a little." Zack tried, going after her. She didn't listen as she barged through the house towards the weight room. "Mel!" He shouted, grabbing her arm. She tried to shrug him off but he spun her around to look at him and grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "Chill!" He breathed out. The way she was looking at him, with the fire in her eyes burning so fiercely, it could've singed him. In the small hallway, Zack began to feel uncomfortable with how close he and Mel were as he gripped her shoulders, trying to get her to return to sanity. If there was any left in her.

"You're telling me to calm down?! Zack look at where we are in this crap! Right in the damned middle!"

"I know. I know. But seriously, you freaking out makes the rest of them freak out." He sighed, letting go of her and running his hands through his hair, turning about in a small circle to try and calm his pounding heart. A movement Mel had never seen him do before to the point she almost abandoned her fury for curiosity. He'd been acting so strange lately. Zack met Mel's gaze and her breath caught. With most of his hair pulled back by his hands, his usually hidden eyes were absolutely breathtaking. Bright blue with specks of dark grey that were scattered like stars. She hadn't taken into account his long eye lashes and seemingly perfect eyebrows. Did he know that he looked so perfect? Mel wondered when he suddenly let his hair fall back down, concealing all that she just took in for what felt like forever.

Her heart began to race and when the front door opened, Zack sighed and quickly disappeared into his room. Mel took a moment before her fury returned and seemed to grow the longer she was around Vanessa. They glanced over the file and discussed what needed to be discussed as Zack came out of his room, looking almost like he just smoked a full pack. As he grabbed some water and received a decently painful punch from Mel, she debriefed him on everything that was about to go down.

Dean and Justin took the motorbike for an intel mission in Jacksonville a few minutes before Mel hopped into the passenger seat next to Zack in the car. Roy and Vanessa hopped into the back. On the half hour drive, Zack kept on mentally stabbing himself.

"Dude, you okay?" Roy asked, leaning in the space between the two front seats, looking at Zack with a worried expression. He'd been checking out lately and it made him worried that this mission just might be Zack's last.

"Yeah." Zack replied, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"If you say so." Roy replied, slowly easing himself back into his seat and sharing a worried glance with Vanessa. She may not know Zack, but Roy could tell that even she could pick up on his unusual and concerning mood.