The Elixir of Life

Chapter 1- Back at Headquarters

When I got back to headquarters a few hours later my head was still  in a bit of a jumble. In my line of work I'm suppose to be prepared for anything, but nothing the Society ever taught me could have prepared me for what happened tonight.

I spotted Joe, one of our tech guys (and my closest friend in the Society) napping in his reclining desk chair. I nudged him to let him know I was back, but didn't really say more then a half hearted "Hey". He started to wake up and when he noticed the somber look on my face I think he must have expected the worst. 

"Oh boy, what happened Vala?" his face turning somber to match mine, which was a rarity since he was one of the few people in the Society who was usually in a bright mood. "Did you fail your orientation?" he continued with a genuinely shocked face.

"What?! No!" I said getting defensive. "I mean, I don't think I did. I got my target, but what happened after... I'm not even sure what really happened after..."  I said trailing off just thinking about the events the tonight. 

Before Joe could respond, my boss and the leader of my division walked up with the usual grim look on his face. "Agent Rain, could I have a word with you in my office?" he called me by my official agent name, which meant this was serious. Then before I could say any form of reply he was already walking towards his office. 

"Shit..." I muttered.

"Vala, I hope for your sake he just wants the report done in person." Joe commented with a hint of humor, but I could tell he was trying to hide his concern.

I headed to boss's office and knocked on the door. I heard his gravely voice say 'come in' from behind the door. I had a bad feeling about this meeting, but I really needed to tell boss about my mission anyway. So without any further hesitation I opened the door and walked in.

"You wanted to talk to me boss?" 

"Yes, about your mission, would you mind giving me the full report in person?"

I mentally let out a sigh, maybe Joe was actually right about what boss wanted to talk about.

"No problem sir. I followed standard procedure for these cases, I learned the targets daily routines, and all other information in the Society and government data bases. After about three weeks of observing the target, and learning all about their life, I made my move. It was about 11:45 p.m, Saturday September 10th, when I spotted the target coming back from a club, as she had done two out of the three Saturdays I observed. She was walking down the alley to her house, and stopped to look through her purse, and then it was done. Or so i thought."

"What happened next?" boss said with his eyebrow raised in interest.

"Well, what happened exactly, I'm not quite sure of. I observed the target for about 5 minutes, then began packing up my gear."

"Why did you wait around for five minutes?" boss didn't exactly sound pleased at this.

"...I was wondering why the society targeted the woman, her records were mostly clean, and she didn't have any substantial dirt on her, or a lifestyle that seemed to fit crime."

"Vala, you're new, let the higher ups worry about these things, there's other important things for agents to worry about. Anyway, continue."

"Okay, well I was just about to be done packing up when I heard noises of some people down the alley. I finished packing up and by that time they had reached my former target. It was 4 large men that seemed rather rough. I had expected them to do something about the body, but did not at all expect what they did...."

"You're hesitating Vala, spit it out already."

"Uhm, this is where it gets... strange. The men seemed to wave a vile or something under her nose, and then moments later... you might not believe this, but moments later she was back alive. The four men spoke to her as if she was their boss, and then she reached into her wound, and pulled out my bullet. Then spoke of revenge on the person who shot her. I didn't wait around to see what happened next, I called for a pick up, and minutes later I was out of there. I know this all sounds crazy boss, but I'm just retelling what I saw, and believe me I know it sounds crazy, I'm still trying to understand it." I feebly tried to explain near the end, but I felt it was useless so didn't try to defend my story further.

"So the higher ups were right... Viola is indeed back." boss said mostly to himself.

"Care to explain boss? I really hope this doesn't mean I'm demoted, technically I did get my target..."

"No agent, you're not demoted, but considering the circumstance, I can't make you an official member either." boss said with a slight smile. "Once you  understand the benefit of this, I'm sure you will thank me." he finished and my eyes widened. 

"How does any of this mean I can't be promoted?! It wasn't my-" boss cut me off by hold up his hands and interrupting.

"Thank you for your mission report, I will be seeing you again soon, but for now I have inportant business I must attend to. I'm sure Joe will be able to answer your questions, he's been here a while, so just ask him to tell you about Viola. Good day Agent Rain." he talked while standing up and escorting me to the door so I had no choice but to leave. 

I guess I would just have to take his advice and talk to Joe.