THE AGENCY

Chapter 44: PLANS AND RELUCTANCE

PLANS AND RELUCTANCE
"Ok...would any of you care to start?" Scar asks. I settle on Xander's lap as his arms circle around my waist. His forehead is to my back and it tickles as I squirm a bit, but his grip only tightens as it usually does.
"What's so funny?" Jemma asks me. I give Xander a nervous look and point at him.
"He was tickling me!" I accuse.
"I did no such thing!" he says with a smile. "She's the one who started laughing." He concludes.
"No, I swear he was tickling me." I say.
"No I didn't." he says back.
"Ok, shut up children. If you'd care to pay attention we were about to discuss a highly important plan." Scar says.
"Well, we plan to have the factory under surveillance for the next few days. We can't keep cameras in every room because it is a private property and the owners are not willing to cooperate. So, we'll only have surveillance from the building around the factory. Inside there are 12 rooms and a main room with machinery. We'll have Jemma posted adjacent to the North set of offices and Xander posted in the main hall at the East exit. Scarlette would be posted right of the Southern set of offices, that way she also has an easy exit to where Xander is posted. Her location is also closest to the elevator shaft that goes down to the underground parking lot. With everyone posted in these positions everyone has a close exit. This way we'll also be covering the whole expanse of the building. We fear that Mr. Donahue will be somewhere in the building so everybody should search their wing. Sky, you and Xander search the main hall. Jemma searches the North set of offices and Scar the South. If he's nowhere there then I want you all to head into the underground parking lot together. We have special ear pieces so you will all be able to communicate with me and each other. Code Blue is the safe word for reinforcement that will be waiting outside the building. Just give me the word and I'll send them. So what do you think? Sounds simple enough?" John asks.
"I like it. Well thought out guys." I say to them. "Really did your research, huh?" I comment.
"Any weapon necessity or specification?" Scar asks.
"Whatever you're most comfortable with. For you, I'd suggest a knife, considering your expertise." John says.
"What next?" Jemma asks.
"Training." Xander says with a smile. I groan.
"Sky, this is really important for you. You've got to practice. You need to start now, so I suggest you head down to the training center immediately." John remarks.
"Do I have to?" I ask.
"You already know the answer to that." John says with a smile. I groan again as I step out of Xander's hold.
"Come on, let's go..." Jemma says.
"Today, I just need Sky to be trained. Tomorrow all of us can go down together." John says to them. I give him a sharp and livid look.
"I agreed to absolutely, no damn such thing, John! No, we all go together or else I go on my own!" I yell at him.
"Xander is going to look over your training." He says back to me.
"I don't need someone to look over my training! I can handle myself." I say to him.
"You really need to put that on a shirt." Scar remarks...I give her a glare.
"Well, it's going to help your skills if you have someone to help you. Wouldn't want your stubbornness to deprive you of becoming a better Agent now, would we?" he says snidely.
"You just don't trust me to train on my own!" I accuse him.
"No...." he says with a drawl.
"I knew it!" I say to him as I point at him.
"I'm still guiding your training." Xander says.
"Guiding?! I thought it was looking over my training! Either way I don't need you to do that because I'm perfectly responsible to train on my own." I say to them.
"Responsible?" Scar says with a laugh. "I don't think you could pull that off, Sky...no matter how good you are at acting." She says between fits of laughter.
"Oh, shut up, Scar. I'm trying to make a point." I say to her.
"Sky, enough of this drama. We're wasting time." John says with an annoyed expression.
"Right....I'm sorry for putting on another one of my melodramatic episodes for you. I'll just be on my way...ALONE...thank you very much." I say as I start to walk out the door. Xander catches my arm.
"Not so fast, Cloud." He says.
"Stop calling me that!" I say irate. He just smirks. "Nothing's changed...I know that the real reason you don't want me to look over your training is because you're afraid I'm going to judge you, but you shouldn't let anyone's judgment affect you." He whispers in my ear. I turn to him.
"So you are saying that you're going to judge me?" I ask him with my brow cocked.
"No, all I said was that no one's judgment should affect you. I never said that I would judge you....but you know I may judge you mentally without knowing, so I can't control that." He says. I roll my eyes.
"I really don't have a choice do I?" I ask.
"There's always a choice." He responds.
"And what choice do I have in this case?" I ask with a sigh.
"You either let me train with you or you can sit here and forget about the mission." He says.
"So I really don't have a choice?" I say again.
"However you want to phrase it. Now, we need to go." He says. I groan as I walk towards the door. He follows straight behind me and we walk all the way down to the training center in silence. I walk straight into the women's locker area as I slam the door shut. I get dressed in a black t-shirt and flexible training leggings. Then I slip on a waist band as well as some black fingerless grip gloves. I tie my hair into a bun as I walk out into the training area barefoot.
"Why are you barefoot?" he asks me with a cocked eyebrow.
"Because I am." I state.
"Xander...or because your my mentor...uh...Mr. Smith...what will be doing as my first session of training?" I ask.
"Your words not mine." He says with a smirk. "You feel as though you don't have many choices in this so called predicament of yours, so why don't you pick?" He states with an elegant twist.
"Why so polite, Mr. Smith? It's rather deceiving. You should know my choice considering I'm barefoot, unless you're as unobservant as I speculate." I say cockily. He grins with a smile and I know he knows what I'm thinking.
"I don't fight women, Miss Hudson, especially when it comes to hand to hand." He states and this battle has officially begun.
"What did you just say?" I ask with an enraged flare to my tone.