The Heart Stoppers

SPADE

Zack had flown through training. He was given the stamp of approval by Freeman not even three days after the two had begun. Tiara Ambers, Freeman's assistant who is technically in Diamond, trained him after Freeman would get done with the Heart sessions. The kid loved learning, so I knew he would love to learn Spade.

Today was Tuesday, the day I start training him. We both meet downstairs, him grabbing a banana while I finish shaking the protein shakes I've made for breakfast. He can't keep the smile off his face which automatically tells me he's excited. Once he's finished eating, I hand him the shake before leading the way to the car.

"Okay this is the run down of the day," I say as I start the car, and he buckles his seat belt. "You're going to meet my team. There's only three of them, and you're already acquainted with Perrison. Then you're going to learn what each of them do. I'm going to teach you, of course. Then by the end of the day, you'll be in my office with me. I may even send you out with the boys if a case is good enough. Let you get a taste of the field."

He nods, "Do you teach me to shoot today?"

"Like a gun?" I look to him with confused brows. He nods at me excitedly. "Oh God no. I'm holding off on that for a while."

Now it's his turn to look confused. "Well why the bloody hell not?"

I laugh to myself, "You don't understand that once I teach you, you can...can take a life. You have the power to take a living, breathing person's soul away. And that's something I don't want you to learn yet."

"But-"

"No buts. I'm your trainer. What I say goes. I promise I'll teach you, but now is not the time," I say to end the argument.

♣♦♥♠

"Welcome to the Agency. This is where all the offices are. Not to get it confused with Headquarters. That's where Buchanan and most department heads choose to have their own 'special' office space. Though I choose to stay here so I can effectively communicate with my team, but that's just me," I look away to demonstrate to where we're headed next.

"Okay so I know you can see the different colored sections," I say, pointing to all four of the divisions. In the ginormous building we are in, it is split. There are two hallways on the exterior of each part; crossing at the center. The four areas are colored appropriately with each suit, red for Heart, blue for Diamond, green for Club, and black for Spade. Each department is nine stories tall with an area of thousand feet. The stained glass that designates which suit each department belongs to us fairly transparent, except for Spade which is tinted dark to see in. The hallways are bustling this morning while everyone files into their offices. "They're for each suit. Obviously we're going into Spade."

He follows me to the division in the far right corner. Upon entering in the door, I'm greeted by Mara Ashum, our one and only desk lady. I introduce Zack, and she stands to shake his hand before we continue on toward the elevator.

"So what floor are we on?" he asks, eager to press the button on the elevator.

I laugh to myself, pushing in the 'B' button before he can get to. "Special Projects is in the basement."

He looks bummed, but recovers quickly by asking, "Why is there no one here? There were a lot of people in the corridor but there's hardly anyone inside Spade."

I scoff to myself, mumbling 'corridor' under my breath before answering. "Spade is a come-as-you-go kind of thing. Everywhere else has office hours and shifts and schedules but here, you're pretty much your own boss. No one comes in this early except me and the boys, usually," I explain while leading him out of the elevator. "But Special Projects is open 24/7. One of us is always here."