"Well, here's where you go once you've been assigned a mission," Damon said as he opened the double doors to reveal a large waiting room that was filled with round tables and plush chairs. The room was a large square that reminded me of the recreation centers I had swam in while competitively swimming. It was long and wide to provide a lot of room for those that had to walk around, others would choose to sit and a few would probably be sitting on the floors. "Ms. De Luca will take care of you from there and then you're ready to get in the plane, car, or however you're getting there," Damon said with a sigh as he glanced at me. "Now we should really get back to training."
"But, Damon..." I whined as I plopped down into one of the plush armchairs. It was soft to the touch and so inviting that I could have fallen asleep from exhaustion. "I'm so tired, and sore," I added as I sunk into the cushions, unwilling to leave the comfortable seat.
"Come on, Sara, you know that we have to keep training. This mission is important and we have to make sure you are as prepared as possible. We have no idea what could happen this time and you're a rookie," he said cautiously. He had been careful to step around the seriousness of this mission, probably certain that it would scare me away. They were training me non-stop to prepare me for anything since they had targeted this group once before. They would have new security measures in place and probably more people in the compound, and my inexperience would be an obstacle to get through especially if I was caught. I shivered, and refused to let the thought go any further. I couldn't think like that, or I would cause more problems during the mission.
"But, Damon, we trained all day. I just want to rest or eat dinner and then fall asleep." I whined as I slouched further into the chair. I glanced over at the table in front of me once my eyes caught the books and magazines that had been placed under it for casual reading. I could read and fall asleep right in this chair, I wouldn't feel guilty about it at all either. I was so tired that I could sleep on hardwood floors that were cold and not complain.
"I know you're tired, and that you want to go to sleep, but just give me a few more hours. You committed to this mission when you accepted your recruitment into the agency. You have to train in order to make it through this because I don't want you getting hurt. I promise once you're done training for the day, you can go to sleep. I swear."
"Fine." I sighed in defeat. Damon knew the right buttons to push in order to get me to follow his wishes, and he was pulling out all the stops for this one. He was making me feel bad because I was trying to get out of a commitment, he was guilt tripping me with knowing that if I got hurt he would be crushed since he was the reason I was here, and he was enticing me with sleep and food once I was done. Anyone would have given in after that. "On one condition," I said with a smile.
"What is your condition, oh chosen one?" he asked, as he lifted his eyebrow slightly and smirked to show that he was joking with me. I would say that he was just jealous that Sharp Shooter took a special interest in me, and that he had complimented me so highly, but Damon didn't care about that. He cared that I got in and out safely and that everyone survived this mission. Even if that wasn't it, he knew that such high praise was just Sharp Shooter's way to motivate me into working harder than the others. At least, I hoped Damon knew the truth and was just kidding around, because I didn't want to make enemies out of my teammates just so Sharp Shooter could motivate me.
"I want to meet Ms. De Luca!" I bounced up from my seat and glanced around the room. There was only one other set of double doors that we hadn't gone through yet and I had a feeling that's where Ms. De Luca was hiding. This room had clearly been set up like a waiting room from the soft chairs and tables for agents to talk around, and the overly read books and magazines that were hidden under the table's surface. There was no way that this was the only part of Ms. De Luca's room, because the space was completely filled. It made me curious how busy this room must be at times to require such a large space and so many chairs for people to sit in, but it meant that there was still more to see.
"I don't know if Ms. De Luca is in, Sara. We can just come back later," he said as he lightly wrapped his fingers around my arm and pulled me out of the chair.
I groaned loudly, so loudly it covered up the sound of a door opening behind me. "Did I hear my name?" A woman's voice asked.
I turned around in time to see a tall, curvy woman step out of the second set of double doors. I flashed an excited smile at Damon before turning back to her and noticing the features of her face. Her hair was black mixed with red streaks, which framed her tanned heart shaped face perfectly. Her teeth flashed brightly as she offered us a soft smile. There was a pause in the air around us as we waiting for the other to introduce themselves. When neither of us did, Damon did it for us.
"Hello, Ms. De Luca, it's a pleasure to see you again," Damon said politely as he reached his hand out for her to shake.
She shook his hand nicely and offered him another smile. "It's nice to see you again too, Demon. It has been such a long time, but I do remember telling you before your mission in Prague to call me Jenessa. I would even accept Jen, but please don't keep calling me Ms. De Luca, it's far too formal."
"I will do my best, Jen," he said with a soft head nodded.
Her eyes immediately returned to mine, taking the time to take in my features as she bore her blue eyes into mine.
"And who is this, Demon? Your girlfriend?" she asked as she glanced over my slim figure, suddenly making me self-conscience.
"No," we shouted in unison.
Jen started to laugh at our sudden reactions, as we looked nervously between each other. "It was a joke, young ones. Relax, I wouldn't judge you even if you were together. Love is something that you shouldn't be teased about. If you're not here to introduce me to your girlfriend Demon, why are you both here?" Jen asked curiously as she glanced between the both of us.
"This is Sara Night, she is our newest recruit for the Cardoza mission."
"The Cardoza mission?" Jen asked in shock as her head whipped around to stare at me again. "That can't be, Demon, she's far too inexperienced and so soon after the loss of Guardian and Hess."
I listened to her words, and the rest of their conversation, but I felt as if I was missing something. It was more than names, the way she kept calling him Demon instead of Damon, and all of my unasked questions bouncing around in my head once again, it was just how serious this was. Jen had been shocked, almost scared for me when she heard what I was doing. Maybe it was time to ask what this mission meant for me.
"I know, but we have no choice. It looks like they are about to close up shop and we would lose them for who knows how long if they did that. We have one final shot at this and we can't let it slip through our fingers," Damon said forcefully, as if he was trying to convince himself more than Jen.
"I understand, but don't push her so hard. She looks exhausted and stressed, probably from knowing what happened previously. She is new, and it will take time—you can't rush these things," Jen said as she gave me a comforting smile. "Just look at her, you've run her ragged already," she joked as she swiped the bangs out of my face that I had been too lazy to move out of my vision.
"I will consider it, maybe," Damon said with a laugh as he caught my horrified face at the thought of more training. It was clearly a joke now, but once we stepped out of this room it would be a harsh reality that they were cramming a couple months training into a few days. I was going to die just from training before I even made it to the car for the mission.
"I know she needs to keep going but before you go, come with me please." She grabbed my hand and pulled me away without waiting for a response from either Damon or I.
"Where are we going?" I asked as she led me out of the room. I glanced back to see if Damon was coming. He was following at a leisurely pace as I was dragged toward the double doors she had emerged from.
"You can't leave without seeing your new closet," she joked lightly. "What do you mean new closet?"
"I can tell you're so full of questions about your new life. Questions get annoying after a while, since I've heard them all before. It's hard to remember whose I've answered before and whose I haven't. I just hope my patience doesn't wear thin on you." She laughed lightly as she suddenly stopped.
"Wow." I sighed as I glanced through the racks of clothing and shoes that filled the room from wall to wall. I felt like I could come in here for years and never find the same outfit twice. The room was completely filled with racks of clothing and pants like in department stores, but more organized. There were signs that told you the sizes found on each rack and some racks had other countries flags on it to show it was popular in that country. The wall space was currently being lined with shoes racks and shelves up to the ceiling with two moving ladders to assist people in skimming the racks.
"This is your new closet," Ms. De Luca said again. "Every time you have a mission and you need to dress for a new country, state, or even just a different climate you come to me and I set you up with a new disguise. You will of course have your own clothes for everyday living, but when you go on trips you take these so that you fit in better wherever you go."
"How did you even get all these clothes?" I asked as I continued to flip through the clothing and found a few shirts that I wanted in my own collection.
"When people donate their clothes from pick up collection boxes, they first come here and we wash them then send you out on missions in them. We use them for a few months, sometimes a few years, and then once it's time we cycle the clothing again. It is then sent off to the thrift stores and Good Will for others to use. Did you ever think about where your clothes had been before you got them?" Jen asked with a soft smile.
"Not once," I said honestly.
"I bet now you will. They could have gone places you've only thought of visiting in your dreams," she said smartly as she turned me around to lead back to Damon.
He hadn't come into the room with us, and was waiting outside in one of the chairs with one ankle sitting on his adjacent knee. How did guys sit like that and be comfortable? It just looked awkward and unpleasant. He glanced between us curiously as Jen placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Come back later and I will let you keep those shirts I saw you looking at," she said as she gave us a wave good-bye and left us alone in the waiting room.
"Come on, Sara, there's one more person I want you to meet before you go back to training tonight," Damon said as he lightly grabbed my hand to lead me around the building as if I was a little child.
"Who are we going to see now, Damon? Please don't introduce me to anymore trainers. I'm too tired to do anymore training. I might collapse if I even think about doing any more training," I whined as my legs suddenly wobbled, threatening to topple me over and onto the floor.
"I'm taking you to meet your official trainer. She will be working one on one with you for the next two days. She will push you, annoy you, but most importantly she will teach you more than I could. You only have to meet her right now, and then I will let you go to bed, but know that you start early tomorrow."
"How early?"
"Early," was all he said as he led me out of the room and back into the maze of hallways that was starting to feel like home to me. "I would also like to warn you, your trainer is a bit eccentric, but she's exactly what you need."
"How so?"
"Well, normally you'd have months of training before going into the field, but unfortunately for you that isn't an option. You'd also have a trainer that had the same skill set as you, so you would usually be trained by a thief, but that's also not possible. Hess was one of the agents that died on the last attempt at the Cardoza Cartel, so we have multiple people train you so you get an even distribution of training, but your official trainer is someone Hess mentored. She isn't a thief, but we are hoping she can make you into one, if you can make it through her training."
"What does that mean if I can make it through her training?"
"You can see for yourself," he said as he opened the door to allow us to see a woman with purple hair beating the stuffing out of a large hanging punching bag. She took a quick glance at us before hitting the bag off its chains and turning toward us with an interest when her eyes landed on me, but underlying the natural curiosity there was a tinge of anger. She seemed to dislike being interrupted. Maybe we should have knocked to be polite.
"Demon, you know I hate being interrupted while training and I most certainly don't like rookies in my training area," she said as she glared daggers into my eyes.
Her eyes were a gray color that seemed distance, and cold it was only certified by the icy tone she took with us. If this was my trainer, I'd be lucky to survive training, not to mention the mission.