Sin City Sour

I was celebrating how I managed to smuggle in illegal drugs with my team. All of a sudden, I was approached by these men, that were armed. "Get dressed, we have to take a ride. The boss wants to meet you." Oh, how romantic. Nothing like being blindfolded by a bag, hands zip tied, and legs strung together by rope. Unfortunately, I'm in this situation more than you think. Don't tell the bad guys, but I'm actually a CIA agent undercover. My real name is Vincent Hawthorne and today I'm playing the part of Benito Salazar, a member of a Spanish cartel shipping an illegal drug to the States. I basically feel like an infamous citizen at this point by all the missions I've done. I barely even know who I am anymore.

The men tie me to a chair and remove the bag from my head. I can see my gun, my burner phone, and my speedo. There were two men on each side of me with AK-47s. They seem poorly built though. "The boss" comes out of the shadows and starts laughing. "Out of all the idiots in the world, this is the top Spanish cartel leader? ¿Cuál es tu propósito? (What is your purpose)," he asked. I stood silent. This guy seems like an amateur leader that just wants to move up in the cartel hierarchy. My job is to prevent that from happening. "Mi equipo no puede ser derrotado. Decidimos matar a cualquiera que se estorbo. (My team cannot be defeated. We decided to kill people that get in the way)," I said confidently. My Spanish is okay, well actually all the languages I've learned are okay. I just basically know the gist of killing people and it seems to work. His guys grip their guns. They seem pretty intimidated, or angry. I see my phone go off, Costa was the name of the contact. The boss looks at my phone. "Yo no respondería (I wouldn't answer that)," I said. The boss answers it anyway. The first bombs go off as warnings. "Puta madre!" I bust out of the zip ties and run as I get shot at, but then I set off the second set of bombs that blow up the place. I jump into a properly timed CIA squad car as I peel away the prosthetics and got away before they could escape the building.

"Nice to see you again," said Ivy. "Just because you are a princess that can't break a nail, it would have been nice to have some back up," I said to her as she rolled her eyes. Ivy was an undercover agent, but then she moved up to the head of Intelligence and Foreign Affairs, so now she's my boss. "I'd love to sit and chat, Vince, but I have another assignment for you." Spoiler alert, Ivy and I had a small fling when we were on an assignment together, and I think she still has feelings for me, but reading a woman is so hard. "Do you overwork me because you hate me, or you actually give a shit about these citizens? To be fair, I haven't been called Vince in over 5 years by the amount of undercover work I've done." "I put you on because you're the best at it," she said, "At the end of the day, you give a shit about saving the people in the end because you created a relationship with them." Great. So, now I'm a superhero that comes and goes for people because they ask for help.

Ivy drops me off at my apartment. "See you at 7 am," she says and drives off. I live in New York. I sleep in this crappy apartment, but the view at night overlooks the Brooklyn Bridge. You would think I'd date, but I can't by working all over the world from bad guys.

I woke up at 6 am, showered, and stared at myself in the mirror. I almost didn't recognize myself. The Spanish cartel mission lasted a year and I had my tattoos covered. I had a black wig, but my hair is brown. My nose and jaw were made of prosthetics and I wore brown contacts when my eyes were blue. I almost cried, but I got ready for work to meet the HBIC.

I sat down in a chair, drinking my coffee, then I was approached by this intern that seemed to be starstruck by me. This kid was almost on the verge of hyperventilating. "You're Vince Hawthorne! I've heard so much about you and your work," he said. I felt like I should play with the kid. "No, no, sir. My name is Fabio. Parli italiano," I said. The kid seemed in shock. "Oh, I'm sorry, Fabio. I thought you were someone I read about." Ivy stood up in front of the podium.