Lesson One

11: Operation Wedding Crashers

With a glance to the mirrored wall, Alicia straightened the hems of the white tank tops she wore before filing from the elevator. She’d been in the middle of shopping for movies when the tablet had gone off in her purse. In the week that she’d been carrying the thing around with her it had never made a sound before. Amanda said that she would update her on the assignment, and Alicia had just assumed she meant via the tablet. It turned out she was right, for when she withdrew it from her purse there was a message waiting for her. The order was simple: report to Amanda in Division.

While she had considered changing into something a little more official, she had decided there was no reason to waste any time. Birkhoff had been called back to work to take care of a problem, no surprise there, and he’d been in Division ever since. Amanda’s assignment granted them more freedom to see each other, but that couldn’t be put to use until the entire thing was actually in motion. It wasn’t the first time Alicia had felt a flutter of eagerness to attend briefing, but it was the first time she’d felt it for a personal reason and not just to earn her second chance. Though the couple had been able to sneak in a few conversations on ShadowStalker they weren’t as satisfying as the real thing. She’d never had anyone to miss before and now that she did she couldn’t wait to get back to him.

Elevator doors sliding closed behind her, Alicia found herself standing at the edge of the training room. Recruits were hard at work assaulting punching dummies, sparring on the mats and working up a sweat exercising. One look and she picked up on the fact they were at an in between period. There were none of the trainers around, Michael included, and the way recruits talked lightly with each other was a clear giveaway that they weren’t in the middle of a class. She remembered how she’d spent her free time on the treadmill, working on her cardio as Samson lifted weights and talked to her. Looking at the active training room made her realize part of her missed being a recruit. At least then she’d been able to see Birkhoff twice a day every day.

When she became aware of a few eyes flickering over to her in interest she realized she’d been standing there staring at the group. It wasn’t the daydreaming that had caught their attention; no, it was her status as an Agent. Any time an Active passed through the recruit floor it was commonplace they’d attract attention. Talk and speculation were the closest the recruits got to what occurred up in Operations. But, as an Agent, Alicia had firsthand experience of what went on in the Command Center and that made her worth watching. After all, maybe they’d be able to overhear some juicy tidbit of information if they paid close enough attention.

Ignoring their eyes she strode along the edge of the room and up the stairs, disappearing not in the direction of Operations but rather Amanda’s office. Passing through the halls she suddenly wished she had thought to bring some sort of shawl. Division wasn’t cold, but the muted tones and cement walls gave it a dreary feeling that seemed to cling to her bones. The second she reached Amanda’s office she gently rapped her knuckles on the closed door. She couldn’t wait to leave the hollow feeling hallway and slip into Amanda’s comfortable office. While the room was whitewashed and spacious it was one of the few rooms that were furnished, however slightly. The door clicked open and Alicia wasted no time in slipping into the room, closing the door behind her.

“Alicia,” the woman greeted her with a smile, “please, make yourself comfortable.” Amanda’s room was constantly changing, the only thing that remained the same being the vanity against the far wall. This time there was a pastel green couch on which she was perched, her manicured hand motioning towards the matching feinting couch across from it. Between the set was an elegant glass table, a small luncheon setting laid out.