Sorcha's Secret World, Part one.

Chapter 11, Partners.

It had been months since I last heard anything about Loki. In hindsight, I don't know why I thought there would be a trial, that I would be called to the witness stand to tell what happened exactly at Solomon Island. That there would be some justice for the people that remained there.

Admittedly, I never brought anyone in alive before. The creatures I fought would usually fight to the death. They were mindless, feral, evil. With them, it was kill or be killed.

I asked eventually and was told there would be no trial. This was the Secret World after all, and the organisations themselves were judge, jury and at times executioners as well. Loki was detained by the Templars to be studied and contained. I was reassured he'd never be able to harm anyone again.

It didn't feel right to me. I knew the devastation Loki had left in his wake, I knew better than almost anyone. I felt Loki deserved to be punished for what he did, but I also felt he deserved a fair trial. There was no justice to be had for anyone involved, it seemed.

Life went on, and so did my job. Up to this point, I had been working alone. The Templars would have preferred I had a partner, but there often were more cases than agents, and while I had worked with other agents on certain missions, I did most of my job by myself. As a Bee, there wasn't much that could kill me. My way of dealing with a minefield was to walk right through it and set off the bombs as I went along until I got to the other side. A mortal partner wouldn't survive that sort of strategy, and there weren't any new Bees coming in to partner up with.

I knew I did a good job in the field most of the time, and having started my career by defeating a god had earned me quite a bit of leeway, not to mention a few medals. But I could be doing better, and I knew that too. I had my flaws, my blind spots, and a having partner in the field could help with that.

So it wasn't a great surprise when Richard called me into the office and told me they might have a potential partner for me.

"I want you to keep an open mind," he said as he motioned to follow me. "I know you are worried about having a partner that is not, let us call it 'as sturdy' as you are, but in this case, you won't have to worry about that. He can survive almost as much as you can."

I was intrigued. Richard lead me through some doors and down a long hallway. I'd never been in this part of the building before, it required special clearing that I didn't have. At the end of the hallway was an elevator.

"You have refused other partners in the past, and while your clearance rate is great and you are truly well on your way to becoming one of my best agents, your knowledge of the secret world is lacking. And, I am sorry to say this, you aren't always the most observant of people."

That was right, I did have a habit of missing things, quite obvious things at times. I solved most of my cases with brute force.

The elevator went down, and down, and down. I had no idea where we were going.

"This is a great opportunity for you," Richard continued, "and I would advise you to take it. Our superiors have high hopes for this partnership. After you."

The elevator had stopped, and Richard gallantly opened the door for me.

We walked down another long hallway, lined with guards in the now familiar red and white uniform of the Templars. They were holding guns, high tech weapons that reeked of magic. Orochi-made, from the design. What on earth were they keeping here? Or more to the point, who?

At the end of the hallway was a door. Richard put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. "Keep an open mind, will you?"

I opened the door and walked into the room. It wasn't large, there was just room for a table and two chairs. In each corner of the room stood a guard, weapon at the ready. With his back towards me was a prisoner in a red and white tracksuit, in chains, his hands manacled to the table. Black hair whipped around his face as he turned his head, his eyes widening slightly as he recognised me. His voice, however, was calm and slightly mocking.