Being Different

Run Agent, Run!

A/N: One more for the road...

Damien is put to the test, as well as his fellow trainees, when foreign visitors are invited to visit the new compound and are kidnapped...

Damien POV

The next few weeks were the most harrowing I had ever experienced in my life! Every day after school, we were instantly plunged into the world of espionage within the compound, learning how to fend for ourselves as young agents in the field.

Our instructors were friends nearest and dearest to us: the triplets - Nik, Alonso and Felix who spared us absolutely no mercy. Even ARTURO gave us hell, thwarting every single move we threw at him. At one point, Randy was ready to throw in the towel as he was at ARTURO's mercy during a very exhaustive hand-to-hand combat session, had I not come to his rescue.

I understood the necessity of it all, even though I was already slated to head Project Eden into its' latest phase with the building of housing units for those who could not even afford housing and lived in the direst of conditions, that is, if I successfully passed all my exams with flying colours for which I was determined to make my father proud.

During these exercises, we learned how to fend off attack dogs; crawl under or scale high wire fences while being shot at; shoot at moving targets using simple to complex firepower; learn tactical terminology; navigate through fields heavily laden with explosives; manually disarm would-be attackers be they human or in any other forms; escape entrapments of any kind which were the scariest of all situations. We learnt to dodge, out-maneuver and kill if necessary, as if we were trained assassins.

By the end of each day, we would literally crawl into the barracks where we now stayed at during our training sessions. It was exhausting but necessary for us to do this since we had to truly experience the life of being a soldier. Marcus and Bry made sure we were up to the challenge, with constant reminders and lessons.

My father had too much on his plate as he too had to take refresher courses, now that he was being groomed to take up the highest position ever granted an agent in The Organization – that of overall Head of Tactical and Field Operations, which he resigned himself to reluctantly, even though he actually did his best to avoid it, secretly hoping that someone else would take up the reins so that he could remain on the field longer.

But no one seemed to contest the appointment and to be honest, Marcus had stated that there was no one else qualified to handle the entire operation except my father. My father had been on the field long enough and had gone to extreme ordeals including incarceration in his lifetime to be respected by his peers and subordinates. In other words, my father's word was gold.

Just seeing as to how the other agents followed fervently in his presence, learning from their mentor made it clear as to his position in The Organization. The General would remain as a top-level consultant on missions although it would not be necessary for him to have a physical appearance on the field in any of them.

The General had seen better days and longed to spend his retirement with his family. After witnessing how the man had enjoyed his time with them during our football competition made that very clear. He was missing his family very much, especially his grandchildren. Dad was happy to have Marcus around, albeit by communication only.

Meanwhile, here we were, exhausted to the hilt as we quickly showered, changed, had a quick meal at the canteen and went to bed. All we had time for was a cuddle and a sweet, tender kiss before getting into bed. The next day, we would both be going through it all again.

School was just as hectic, with a new football coach, who had been interviewed and appointed by Coach Gilmore. He was devastated after learning how badly his best friend, Rhet, had behaved, and kept apologizing to the Commander even though he had nothing to do with it.