Written In The Stars: A Destined Romance

Chapter 1: Small Talk

Morning in New York City-noisy, bustling streets and talkative, hustling, pedestrians. Everyone has an agenda for the day and no one stops, even for a moment, to contemplate the possibility that the person sitting beside them on the bus or ringing out their groceries might be an ALIEN!

Of course not everyone in the city (or on the planet for that matter) is oblivious to the fact that aliens live among us. One particular organization monitors and polices the existence of extraterrestrial life on Earth. They are Earth's first, last, and only defense against the worst scum of the universe! They exist in secret, and they dress in black. They are the mysterious Men In Black.

At MIB HQ the long 37-hour day was underway and Zed already had a pile of paperwork deposited on his desk. As another paper pusher entered his office and presented him with yet ANOTHER folder stuffed with forms he turned to his communicator screen and contacted Agent Elle and X.

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Elle and X were down in one of the kitchenettes doing paperwork when the communicator in Elle's jacket pocket beeped.

"Yes Sir?" Elle asked as she pulled the communicator out and flipped open the screen cover.

"Elle, I need you and X to report to my office as soon as you finish that paperwork, I may have found a field assignment for you."

Finally, Elle thought, "We'll be there in five minutes Sir!"

"Five minutes," X scoffed, "it'll take AT LEAST five HOURS to sort through all this mess!"

"Not if you stop complaining long enough to sort them all out!" Elle snapped as she returned the communicator to her pocket.

X continued to grumble as he quickly jotted things down on the forms. Twenty minutes later, they had finally finished.

Elle sighed as she glanced down at her watch and picked up the files. "Let's go Cowboy, Zed's waiting."

X followed her down the hallway with a stack of folders. They found Agent U at the end of the hallway and X shoved the folders into his arms, "Here," he moaned, "you used to deal with this stuff around here, make sure it makes it into the appropriate trash bin."

"Got it'" U retorted as he threw an angry glare at the agent.

Agent W rounded the corner and spotted her partner, "You're such a push over!" she laughed as she took Elle's folders, "And it's a recycle bin," she said aside to X.

X looked at her puzzled. Elle explained, "It's a joke!"

"Yeah, whatever--I'll never understand human humor."

"I doubt you even HAVE a sense of humor," she replied as they continued on their way to Zed's office.

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Zed sat at his desk tapping a pen on top of one of the case files. He didn't even have to look up to see that it was X and Elle who had just entered his office.

"You're late agents!" he moaned.

"With all that paperwork that got loaded off on us, you're lucky we made it at all," X mumbled.

"What was that Agent X?!" Zed demanded as he looked up. X slumped back in his seat and grew silent. Elle grinned at her partner's pouting expression.

Zed sat up in his seat and began explaining to the agents that an unlicensed Cephalobian ship had made an unauthorized landing just outside the city. Elle and X were to head down to the landing site and return with the illegal aliens before they could cause any trouble.

"We'll get on it right away Sir!" Elle exclaimed as she and X got up and made their way down to the garage.

"Can you believe how cranky he gets?!" X asked as he got in the driver's side.

"Surprisingly yes." Elle chuckled.

X shot her an angry glance as he started the SUV's engine and pulled out of the garage.

They sped along in silence for several minutes until Elle finally couldn't take it any longer. "So Cowboy, gotten any letters from home lately?"

X gave her a suspicious look, "Maybe--why?"

"Just trying to make conversation," Elle replied.

X thought for a moment and then said, "I got one from my mother last week-"

"Really? That's nice."

"Yeah, she's always worrying about me," X laughed. "She wants to know how I'm fitting in around here and if I've made any new friends."

"What do you tell her?"

"The usual, I write back occasionally and let her know that things are good, I'm fine, I remember to wash my ears…" X added the last part hesitantly.

Elle glanced back out her window, she was riding shotgun so she and X had to face each other every time they spoke.

"Do you ever mention me?" she asked as if she didn't care.

"Huh?" X raised an artificial human eyebrow at her question, "Why would I?"

"Because I'm your partner."

"Oh," that made sense, he guessed, "Well, I have mentioned that I do have a partner, and that they're human." What he didn't tell his mother was that his partner was a female AND a doctor. Why open that floodgate, his mother would bombard him with questions about Elle, their 'relationship', and why he had never considered dating her? His mother was desperate about getting a daughter-in-law, and X knew what she'd want after that………..grandchildren!!!

Elle smiled as she realized that X was in deep thought about something, "So have you told her about how hideous and inferior my species is?"

"No," X replied with a straight face, "she's always telling me that if I don't have something nice to say about someone, and I'm assuming that that applies to their species as well, then I shouldn't say anything at all."

"Yeah," Elle sighed, "My mom used to say that to me all the time too, I think it's in the Mother's Handbook or something!" She laughed at her joke and even X couldn't suppress a slight grin. At least someone else on this planet understood what mothers like his were like.

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A few minutes later the SUV pulled up to the crash site, it was in the woods behind a small field of grain.

"Let's do it!" X shouted as he leapt out of the vehicle with his XP4000 Megablaster drawn.

"Whoa Cowboy," Elle called as she rushed to catch up with her partner who was already less than a yard away from the spaceship, "every time you rush into something one of always winds up at the end of an alien's ray gun!"

"Where's your sense of adventure?" X smirked.

"Left it in my other suit," Elle replied smugly. "Now let's calm down and handle this like professional-"

Elle was cut off by the door to the spacecraft opening, she and X aimed their blasters at the entrance while shielding their eyes from the blinding light that came from inside.

"MIB, this space vehicle has made an unauthorized landing," Elle shouted, "step out of your ship with your hands on your head or we'll be forced to take hostile action!"

"What if they don't have hands?!" X asked her.

Elle glared at him for a moment before deciding that his remark didn't even deserve a response. She kept her blaster level with the door as a life form began to step forward. It had some sort of gun in its four arms!

"Place your weapon on the ground!" Elle called.

"Do it NOW!" X screamed when the being failed to comply.

Before either of the agents had to time to think the creature fired an orange ray of light from his gun and hit X between the shoulders. Elle screamed. X didn't fall back when he was hit though, he just stood there, frozen.

"X!" Elle shouted, then turned back to the alien and fired. The creature was struck in the 'shoulder', with a loud screech it turned and fled back into its craft. The ship's lights began to blink as it hovered above the ground and vanished behind the tall treetops.

Elle rushed over to her partner, he was just standing there, like a statue. At least he was breathing, even though it was shallow.

"X?!" she softly brushed her fingers against his cheek. He didn't respond, she slowly waved her hand in front of his big yellow eyes. He didn't blink.

Elle sighed, "Oh great, don't expect me to drag you all the way back to the SUV!" After several more moments of silence she took out her communicator and contacted Zed.

"Were you able to apprehend the aliens?"

"Negative Sir, they were armed. One stepped out and shot X with some kind of paralyzing beam. He's frozen stiff!" Elle explained.

"Ugh," Zed groaned, "I'll have a couple agents come out there and get him. Until they arrive, DON'T MOVE!!!"

"No problem," Elle said as she closed the communicator and turned toward X. She REALLY wished she had a camera!