The Mistakes and Memories of Edward Townsend

Part I: Catherine

1

There is a multitude of expectations Agent Edward Townsend of MI6 has as he steps through the glass doors of the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia. A plethora of security cameras tracking his every move, for example. The extreme cleanliness that is a hallmark of intelligence agencies everywhere; Edward looks at the pristine gray tile floor and sees his reflection in the shield of the CIA emblem there. And of course, bad break room coffee, for Edward doubts there is a spy on the face of the earth who makes a half-decent brew. The scene is somewhat familiar, similar to the early morning buzz in the lobby of the SIS Building back at home in London.

Until he sets his eyes on her.

She's got long, dark red hair that falls down her back in big bombshell waves and pale, milky white skin that looks- and probably feels- like cream. And those eyes...they're jet black, glinting like obsidian stones in the morning light. Edward's captured by them because he thinks he can see a long stretch of hurt behind them. They make him think that he can be her hero, heal her wounds, and mend her back together.

And then she smiles at him, a smile that is half Mona Lisa-esque smirk and half brilliant white smile fitting of royalty, and says something that goes completely over his head because he's looking at the most beautiful woman in the world- well, at least his world since there aren't many of those around in the intelligence community.

It takes Edward approximately five seconds to realize he's drooling like a starving pig. But it takes her only one second after that epiphany for the woman to say in a voice that would echo in his dreams, "Agent Townsend? The new MI6 correspondent?"

He tries to shrug nonchalantly, but it probably comes across like him morphing into the Hunchback of Notre Dame for a split second. "Yes, that's me."

She comes to stand on the CIA emblem with him, holding out a dainty hand to shake his. Edward's mind goes blank at the contact. "I'm Agent Goode," she introduces herself, shaking his hand with a deliberate firmness. "I'll be your partner in the field this year." She then pushes those luscious red locks back (Edward resists tucking them behind her ear for her) and whispers conspiratorially to him, "But all formalities aside, call me Catherine."

"Al...alright," he stutters. Edward does not stutter.

She flashes that disarming smile at him again and throws her arms out wide in a gesture that encompasses the entire world. "Agent Townsend, welcome to the CIA."

2

Catherine Goode is not only beautiful. She is a scarily brilliant operative.

He learns on their first op to Morocco that she can lie through her teeth like nobody's business. Her lies roll off her tongue smooth like syrup, so well that even the best polygraph in the world would be fooled.

He learns during a long car ride through France that she's been schooled at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women in Roseville, Virginia, but she's incredibly bitter the entire conversation and changes the subject almost immediately.

He learns that you never want to be in a fight against her after he witnesses her knock five Venezuelan gangsters unconscious using the shoes off her feet.

He learns she's (only) five years older than him when he riffles through some paperwork lying on her desk when she is out sick one day.

And most of all, he learns she is very good at getting what she wants. She can play people and manipulate their minds as if they are mere puppets. She knows exactly what to say in order to turn one person against another.