001. Statesman HQ
2013
"So far, the candidates have been," Champ paused, "how do I put this nicely, immensely disappointing."
"Agent Vodka, you better have someone good waiting behind those doors." Champ pointedly looked at Agent Vodka, who had a confident smile on his face as Champ gestured for him to take the floor.
"When I went to London last year, I met a fabulous young woman, who I believed to have the qualities of a Statesman agent," Agent Vodka kicked off his little speech, pulling up a picture on one of the screens, of a young woman with dark brown hair.
"Ever since we met, I've been remotely training her, and I've gotta give it to her, she's a quick learner," Agent Vodka explained as the screen flickered over to statistics showing things like the young woman's stamina, power and other skills.
"Alright, seems promising, bring her in," Champ ordered, waving his hand over to the grand wooden doors.
Agent Vodka sent a quick nod his way, taking big strides over to the doors, and opening them, coming face to face with his candidate, who was the seated next to the candidates of other agents. He could see that she was nervous, she was softly tapping her foot against the wooden floor, and playing with a necklace around her neck.
"Come on, they're waiting," Agent Vodka sent a reassuring smile to her, which she returned, her nerves subsiding a little. As she stood up, she let out a deep breath and straightened out her suit jacket. Agent Vodka had already strolled back into the room, so she quickly followed, closing the door behind her.
"So, Juniper Hesketh, is that right?" Champ asked, looking up at the candidate.
"Yes, sir," Juniper confirmed with a small nod of her head.
"How old are you, Hesketh?" Champ rubbed his chin, his eyebrows scrunching together as if he was thinking.
"29, sir," the woman answered.
"Might be a good thing to have a young person on the team for once," Champ snickered as he glanced around the table, locking eyes with his agents, who were all over 35.
"Well, Hesketh, we've seen your stats," the Head of Statesman said as he leaned back in his chair a little, "and they look promising. There's not much more I can say right now, but anyone have any questions for her?"
"You got any fighting experience? At all?" A man near Champ asked, sounding unimpressed as he eyed her up and down. Juniper glanced over at him, their eyes locking, and immediately she knew who he was. Agent Vodka had told her a bit about each member, not too much though, considering that could be used against them, but enough for Juniper to know that he must be Agent Whiskey.
He was by far the most intriguing out of all of them, a great agent, but also known to be a massive flirt. Agent Vodka let her know that she should try to avoid him, however, now that he had asked a question directly at her, that was going to be difficult. Something that was going to make it even more difficult, was the fact that he was already starting to get on Juniper's nerves.
"Yes, actually," Juniper answered, taking a step towards the screen that still presented her profile on it, "if you would've read this here, you would've known." With a sickly-sweet smile, she pointed at the text that proved that she had been practising martial arts since she was young.
The comment received her an irritated look from Agent Whiskey, but she merely kept smiling at him, trying to annoy him even more. And oh boy, did it work. Juniper could nearly see the steam coming out of his ears.
"Thank you, Hesketh," Champ chuckled, "anyone else?"
The agents all looked around the long table, but none of them spoke up.
"Alright then. Hesketh, you can wait outside," Champ dismissed Juniper.
"Thank you for your time, sir," Juniper gratefully said as she received a subtle thumbs up from Agent Vodka.
Before she closed the big wooden doors behind her, she could hear Agent Whiskey strike up a conversation.
"So, we're going to let the British infiltrate an American intelligence agency now?"
Juniper rolled her eyes as she closed the door with a little more force, letting it slam shut, and also letting Agent Whiskey know that she heard him.
"That bad?" One of the other candidates asked after he'd seen her roll her eyes.
"Just one, the rest are perfectly civil," Juniper scoffed, sitting back down on the bench.
One by one, the remaining candidates were called in, and came out of the room a few minutes later. After everyone had gone, it stayed quiet in the hallway. Every second felt like a minute in there. Finally, Champ appeared in the door opening. He observed all the candidates, until his eyes landed on Agent Vodka's candidate.
"Juniper Hesketh? Come on in." Champ stepped back, holding the door open for her as she anxiously stood up.
The woman followed him in, coming face to face with the same stoic audience she had been standing in front of not even half an hour ago. The only two out of the whole group that showed emotion were Vodka and Whiskey. Vodka was looking at her with a glint in his eye, while Whiskey still had an annoyed expression plastered on his face.
"Miss Hesketh, we've had a little discussion," Champ glanced over at Whiskey, "and we've come to the conclusion that you'd be the best replacement for Agent Gin."
A small grin crept up on Juniper's face. She tried to not get too excited just yet, because she knew the agents still had to vote if she was in or not.
"Statesmen, the vote," Champ announced as he rose his glass. Agent Vodka's glass rose immediately, without hesitation. His glass was soon followed by the rest. Only one glass was still on the table.
Agent Whiskey's.
Juniper didn't expect much else from him. She'd probably blown her first impression with him, however, he hadn't looked interested in the slightest in the first place, so she didn't feel too guilty about calling him out.
After a few seconds, something surprising happened. Agent Whiskey let out a deep sigh as he grabbed his glass off the table, and, seemingly reluctantly, lifted it in the air with the rest of the agents.
"Looks like she's in," Champ grinned at Agent Vodka, who mirrored his expression.
"Welcome to Statesman, Agent Gin." The Head of Statesman stood up from his place at the head of the table. He strolled over to Juniper, taking a glass of Statesman whiskey and handing it to her.
"To Agent Gin!" Champ clinked his glass with Juniper's, who couldn't stop smiling as she lifted her glass high in the air with the rest of her fellow agents.
When the little celebration had passed, and all the glasses were empty, all agents met up with their candidates, consoling them and telling them that they tried their best.
Agent Vodka pulled Juniper to the side, taking her to a smaller room.
"I'm proud of you, kid," Vodka said as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. Beaming, she returned the hug.
"I couldn't have done it without you," Juniper thanked him.
A few seconds later, they broke apart, Vodka patting the new Agent Gin on the back.
"Whiskey had no right to talk to you like that, I'll speak to him in a moment," Agent Vodka assured her, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"I can talk to him too." Juniper shrugged casually.
"You know what he's like, I don't trust him in the same room with you, alone," Vodka warned, his lips pressing into a thin line.
"We're colleagues now, and besides, I've got fighting experience, you know," Juniper chuckled, raising an eyebrow playfully. Vodka stared at her for a second before sighing.
"Alright, but if I hear from anybody that he tried to pull something he shouldn't, I'll have him hanging from the roof by sundown," Vodka grumbled, still not completely content with the idea. However, he knew that Juniper could save herself if she needed to, so he trusted her.
"I'll make sure he won't do anything," the young woman said, doing a small salute before striding out of the room, and making her way over to Agent Whiskey.
"Agent Whiskey, right?" Juniper asked, brushing a hand through her hair. She merely got a nod and an annoyed look from him.
"I'd like to have a proper conversation with you, to clear some things up," Agent Gin continued when she received no further answer from him.
"Go ahead, sugar," Agent Whiskey mumbled indifferently. The nickname threw Juniper off for a second, making her mind go blank and her mouth fall open a little in shock.
"What is your issue with me?" She regained herself, standing up a little straighter.
"Oh," Agent Whiskey chuckled, "this isn't about you."
"Then what's your problem?" Juniper started to get a tad annoyed, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"This job," Whiskey took a sip of whatever alcohol he had in his glass, "it's a man's job, sweetheart. A young woman like yourself shouldn't be here, endangering yourself or getting yourself killed."
Juniper scoffed at him, shaking her head. "You're just too afraid that a woman will outdo you, is that it?"
"You think you can 'outdo' me?" Agent Whiskey pestered her.
"I guess there's only one way to find out," Agent Gin grinned at his confidence. She left him then and there, to ponder about the fact that Juniper had indeed challenged him, something nobody had done before.
AN | he'll get better, I promise, he just needs some character development