Modern day

"Come on...don't look at me like I'm normal, we both know that's far from true." a low Russian hiss sounded around the static-loolking gray room. "Tell me how mad I am. I want to hear it."
The dark-skinned psychiatrist did her best to ignore the rising pressure in the room and the fact that she could barely breathe. She gulped down dryly as if trying to get rid of the lupm in her throat, hoping that her patient had failed to notice. She didn't.

"So tell me, Dagmara, how do you feel about your job?" A low huff and a chuckle followed. Okay then, she was willing to play along.
"My job?"
Gunshots sounded all around as they quaked through the air, carrying the smell of dust, old wounds and desperation. A small, heavily clad body running through old and broken halls, the walls of which gave off enormous heat waves each 60 seconds.
But she didn't notice. Her first and, as of now, only priority was finding the way out. Everything else was done. She's avoided being 'selfish' and thinking about her own safety for the past 48 hours as she's put her life on the line by accepting in the first place.
The building was slowly falling apart, the ceiling falling over her head in small and not-that-small chunks of concrete but she couldn't care less about the open gunfire only adding to the noise coming from outside. One last bullet invaded the structure of the wall next to her. That was all it needed to finally give in to the never-stopping attacks and fall on the heavily-armed girl. Lucky enough she finally found a window behind one of the concrete parts of the ceiling.
"I've done this for a very long time." A deep voice sounded. Too deep for a woman but nevertheless one that gave off confidence, long history of doubts, sensuality. And a strange accent that made the syllables sound rough and heavy. "I've been doing this my whole life." She took a deep breath as traumatic memories and flashbacks intruded into her mind.
Before jumping off of the windowpane of the 16th floor she quickly calculated the risks but before she finished the process she decided she had nothing to lose and simply jumped.
"It's the only thing I've ever known."

The lady with the glasses left the room a long hour and a half later. Her dark skin had started to perspirate from the pressure her newest patient was putting on her. She met the men on the other side of the one-sided glass with a stern look and a nod. The youngest one of them, a punky looking young man no older than 28, stepped up to her with a concerned look.
"What do you say, Doctor? Is there something you can do about her?"
The lady looked at him in the eye with the same nervous look she's had during the whole seance slightly brushing off the sweat off of the caramel skin on her forehead.
"Well, such terms are rarely used in my line of work but... she's batshit crazy! I don't know what you've done to her but she seriously gives me the creeps ! And I've met serial killers and talked them out of their madness." She sighed heavily as if to relief herself of the weight in her chest, but to no use. "She has a personal bias and her hiperinteligence is not helping her case at all. She feels as if she knows everything and that gives her a sense of dominance over everything and everyone. What's worse is that she probably does know everything and she can always get anything she needs out of any situation possible. In other cases I'd advice families to separate the patient from the source of stress but that's impossible to her as she lives in her own reality and has surrounded herself with the thing she needs the most. Knowledge."
She started walking down the corridor of the NATO Base, the three men following her. As she started to her office her collègues passed her by, offering her sympathetic looks and one or two good old 'Good luck!'s. As she reached her office door she turned back to them and gave them one last stern look.
"In her case, gentlemen, I'd advice you to keep a close eye on her, don't underestimate her as that will anger her and possibly lead to a lash-out. She's unpredictable, don't forget that. Her mind works 10 times faster than ours and is twice as precise and calculating. As for the future, I'd recommend a few more seances with me and then... we'll see." She turned her back to them, opened her door, slid in, and shut it before their eyes.
That left the three men alone in the huge Base as everybody was suddenly nowhere to be seen.

She was lead out of the room by four heavily-armed guards, two of which were holding her cuffed arms, one walking in front of them and one behind them. Though she was outnumbered, the girl knew she could escape anytime she wanted to. But she'd leave that to the other criminals in there. They said they're on her side and she'd very much enjoy watching them struggle to prove it. Especially, now that they were sending her to Hague for Military crimes.
As she was led to her 'room', which was rather a cell than a dorm, her thoughts drifted back to the beggining. She remembered the way her mentors struggled to show her what is loyalty and selflessness. The way all of the instructors in combat had shamefully failed to beat her in their own speciality. The way her science teachers were in awe of her knowledge and creativity.
The way he was looking at her.
The start of the whole mess was buried deep into the past but the real begging seemed to be so close back that she could almost touch it.

~1996~
"Ladies and gentlemen! We are facing a huge threat to the world as we know it. Criminal masterminds are getting stronger and smarter everyday and are challenging us and our ways of protecting the world. However, we have found a way to transform potential criminals into our own brand new security system. I proudly present to you... Project "Descendants".
"Each 10 years we'll select a team of young men and women who will be trained by our best soldiers and leaders. But they won't be some ordinary children. The children of the mafia. Kids who have seen violence and death. We will keep them safe and show them the right direction to point their weapons.
Will you, really?
"And when the time is right they will be sent on our front lines. To fight for the ones who trained them. For us. And for the World!"
Applause erupted all around the room as if the main counsellor had just offered them the solution for global warming. And he stood proudly on the platform before his coleagues who by far have considered him a failure but now looked at him differently.
After this "moving" speech the dark-skinned lady got up from her seat and moved to the exit. She knew who these kids were going to be and was 100% sure it would be her who has to talk them out of their ways. All in all, she was not especially thrilled about it.

~2004~

The building was crumbling below her feet and above her head. But she had nothing to do about it. Running was the only thing she could do. The hall of the old building smothered with dust, the smell of death and the sand outside coming through the windows. She finally found her escape. A window with a wire connecting one wing of the building to the other. The wire was thick enough to support her weigh and the way down to the ground was short so that even if she fell it wouldn't be fatal. What she missed to predict was that the troops were moving, and moving fast, and the moment she reached the middle of the wire she would be caught.
She moved quickly not out of fear though. Determination and adrenaline were her best friend and lover. She had challenged herself to complete this mission and leave no trail. Little experience though led her to the situation she was in and this time the last word didn't belong to her.
"Yuzhvin! Give up already! You're surrounded" And once more gunfire surrounded her of all sides.
She didn't seem phased at all though. She continued concentrating on the wire allocating her weigh in all the right places. It seemed almost unexpected when the wire under her broke and she fell face first into the rocky desert sand.
Blackness and dark spots filled her vision and before she could even think to run a needle stabbed into her neck and suddenly sleep sounded a thousand times more appealing.

~A month later~

Static sounds. Cold air moving around in waves. White. Then incoherent shouting. Metal clashing with tiles. Footfalls every 3 seconds.
The ER was never a quiet place especially when there was a case such as this one. A young girl, a teenager to be specific, with very recognisable appearance. Light almost white hair, pale skin covered in scars, stitches and blood and strange eyes. One lighter than the sky in a summer day, the other blacker than the darkest night, both staring lifelessly into the white ceiling. Her chest was moving up and down with the artificial breaths the oxygen mask was forcing on her.
A young man was working hard on trying to stabilise her health rate though it was easier said than done as her life was held on a thin thread. Every stich he made was like stabbing his own skin with a knife. He wasn't new at this but seeing a girl only a couple of years younger than him suffer through all of this pain made him rethink his priorities.
Every 35 seconds he wiped a bead or two of sweat off his dark eyebrow and looked at the clock. He remembered very well the ultimatum his new boss had given him.
"I want her alive and conscious no later than 17:00! If I come back and find her the way she is now I'll send you back to where I dug you up!"
Not only did he not want to go back to the Colombian prison but he felt an unknown force draw him to this girl.
His time was ticking by quickly. But he didn't notice. Being the man he was, he was staring at her barely clothed body. There was a bandage wrapping around her chest pressing her breasts together snuggly, making them look indecently big for a teenager and the only real piece of clothing she had on were a pair of black knicers.
He was a man, after all, how could he contain himself from staring. The girl was only a year or two younger than him and in any way a perfect match for him, at least according to his fantasies. Ever since the day he first saw her picture improbable scenarios of them together had constantly invaded his mind. And now that she was laying almost naked before him, he imagined himself doing something else with her.
He wondered just how strong those thighs were. Just how soft her hair was. Just in how many languages could she talk love. Just how loud she would be.
Suddenly wide eyes blinked. Once. Twice. A deep breath followed. Once. Twice.
Her calculating eyes opened wide once more and he could basically hear the machine of a brain starting to run as she was allocating everything back where it should have been. As she shoved the oxygen mask off the latest questions flooded her system. How she got there, how she fell, what was her task at the beginning and how her 'to do' list has been getting longer and longer every second.
Firstly, though "Where am I?" she asked as she pushed herself up on her elbows.
The boy looked around awkwardly before realizing he was the only one there to answer the question.
"Um. ..well, you're in the infirmary. In ER to be more specific." His answer apparently didn't satisfy the girl as she looked at him sternly after rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"I get that, genius! But whose ER am I in? That's obviously not a regular hospital."
The dark-haired boy looked at her in confusion before she pointed a slender finger to the wall opposite of her.
"The weapons of Inquisition."
The young man followed the direction and looked at the wall that was decorated with a rare selection of 'medical' instruments that probably shouldn't be used in modern medicine.
'They warned me she was observant but...'
"So, spit it out, Doctor! Where am I? And why?" She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
The boy looked around as if searching for the correct answer. When he realised he wouldn't find it he decided to follow one of his father's advices. 'Silence is golden' he repeated in his mind.
"Speak, sweetheart! Speak now or I'll have to make you!" Her words probably wouldn't have sounded as threatening as they did if it weren't for her strange Russian accent. Though he liked it in a word way when she called him that.
"You're in no position to place demands!" He answered quickly without putting much thought. Just a millisecond later he realised who he was talking to and that he probably just signed his own death certificate. But he refused to back down or show fear. His body was trembling but his expression was one of a real soldier. His father would have been proud.
The girl laughed at his bravery though. To her he was an obstacle and a future target. To her he wasn't a threat at all. What bothered her was who he worked for.
"I am in no position? Seriously, sweetheart, look at yourself. I could kill you in record time without even breaking a sweat." she proudly stated. There it is again! Why's she calling me that?!
And now that he actually had no other option of escaping the question, he got nervous. Obviously, she stood proudly behind what she said and wouldn't hesitate to do it. How could he avoid the unavoidable once more, without it costing his head.
" I... uhm... I'm not allowed to.. you know...tell?"
"Oh, and why's that?" she asked, her eyebrows rising.
Suddenly footsteps came into hearing distance.
"Because otherwise he would have stupidly killed himself for not following the Sector's orders." a middle aged man with graying black hair and a military uniform came into view.
"Which sector?"
"Of Security Sector of NATO, of course."
"And what has the NATO have to do with me?"
The dialogue was moving so quickly that the young gentleman could barely follow. So many glares and smart remarks had been thrown that day that he couldn't even try to count them.
"We want you to join our new project."
"And what is that project we're talking about?"
"Ah, we finally came to the real beginning. Now if you'll follow me..." But something finally clicked in his head.
"But, sir, she's barely recovered from her injuries. In fact she came to consciousness just some minutes ago and I'm not sure..."
"I can assure you, this girl has the stamina to last longer than any of us, my boy! And if you're so concerned about her wellbeing then come and make sure she's okay." He stated coldly as if the life of the girl didn't mean more than the one of a fly.

"By signing this contract you agree on undergoing 4 years of training and afterwards becoming one of the lead assets of NATO. Of course, you will be payed for your services and quite richly, if I may add. And because of previous conflicts you've had with law, your name, history and identity in general would dissapear. Any questions?"
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Why would you think...?"
"Just spill it!"
"Alright, then, you'll be working with a team. Share the work and Headquarters with them. So, are you up for a challenge?"
"I've got one condition, thought."
"What is it?"
"I need some kind of a coverage. Walking around in just a bandage and underwear is not appropriate for the season. I'm cold."

The Academy. A giant structure of concrete, glass and a brand new tendency in architecture. A massive structure of white and green with an aerodynamic and futuristic sense to it. With the smell of adventure.
It was just outside one of the world's megacities. An area that gives the advantage of seclusion and security. It had a spacious front and back yard each with the width of a football pitch. The high fence was in the same style, white and green structures with no edges completed with transparent glass so that the building was visible to the outside.
However, the grounds weren't completely empty. There were a few groups of teenagers here and there, they seemed to know each other. Honestly, the whole place looked like a fansy expensive boarding school that the presidents of well developed countries would send their children to.
Truth be told, all of this was completely unnecessary, though the Board wanted to show its enormous influence on NATO. America wanted to show off its influence in the world. The building may have had all of the crutial facilities, such as the dorms for both genders, the dining hall, training grounds and classrooms, a legendary library as well, but all of the fancy looking architecture was something quite inconvenient in this case. The swirls and curves of white and green draw too much attention for a top secret training facility.
Daga walked calmly, slowly while examining the whole place. After signing the contract she was given a week to go back home, pack her bags and say goodbye. This was the first real and big commitment in her life and even though she was worried it would turn out being a disaster she was sure she wasn't making a mistake. Even if it did turn out terribly, she would have a few years of fine training behind her back and maybe she would have to create a brand new identity but she'd done it before.
As she was walking slowly to where she was told the dorms were, repositioning the strap of her messenger bag on her shoulder, suddenly something hot spilled on her.
"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry! Are you okay! I hope it's not too hot!"
In all honesty, it wasn't all that painful. But it was embarrassing to have coffee spilled on you the first day, it was frustrating as well. And as she looked up to memorize the face that had got on her bad side the first day she was met by a very familiar face that stood a half head above her. The Doctor, as she'd once called him, was standing there with a face showing mixed emotions. A mix between fear, panic, embarrassment and shock.
"This is your second slip up, doctor! Third one will be deathly for you, I promise you that!" She hissed lowly catching the collar of his shirt in her fist and pulling him down, getting threateningly close to her face.
"I didn't mean to! I'm sorry, just please don't hurt me!" He let out an oh-so-manly screech.
"You know what? I've heard of your father. All big and powerful but when his security is away he suddenly becomes nice and shy. And here's the thing, you're just like him!" She hissed coldly tightening her grip o his collar. But before his brain could send signals to his mouth he stepped up to defend himself.
"Well, what about you, ! How come everything connected to your family is strictly confidential? He was probably the same phycho you are today!" A chorus of 'Oooh's followed and just then he realized his mistake.
Blinded by her own anger she shoved him hard to the small crowd that had gathered around the two and they were forced to catch him.
Out of the mob stepped out a boy around his age, who seemed to have a body made of steel. His dark eyes and skin radiated anger and as the girl looked back up from her shirt she was sure she would have to brake a sweat with this one. If the other boy was tall to her than this one was a giant.
''Excuse me for interrupting" he sneered not really meaning to apologize "but fucking leave the dude alone. He didn't mean to fucking spill his coffee on you. I bet it's worth more than being thrown on some random bitch." Low voice radiating knowledge and deep thought was deffinetely unexpected to be heard from such a well structured man.
"Oh, look! Big foot talks! I thought they say that brains don't grow this high up!" She rasped picking at her nails and showing her disinterest in his challenge.
"Okay, right now you should feel lucky you're a girl because..."
"Because what? You're gonna beat me up? You can try if you want to! I wouldn't mind a warm-up before classes start."
"I'm not going to fight a girl!"
"Why? What happened to being equal and ending the steryotipucal war! Or are you just scared, you giant bear!"
And this is when he jumped. Big mistake. One thing she was good at was manipulation. And he had fallen for her trap.
She used his strength to catch his fist and flip him so that he fell loudly on the ground. Easily recovered from the fall, but not so easily from the shock. He got up and swung at her again without noticing the innocent by-passer and hit him straight in the nose. The guy didn't seem all too happy and responded with the same.
"What the fuck, man?" he was the same size as the one who had attacked the girl though seemed a little bit more muscular.
With a satisfied smile she turned to leave the scene and step out of the ring of people unscathed though the moment she turned her grin fell. She was there standing before the man she was supposed to call 'Headmaster'.
As expected, he had the posture of a soldier, a military uniform with uncountable badges on it, black hair that was strictly slicked back, and a stern look in his dark eyes. Even though his whole face and the exposed part if his neck were covered in fading scars, he was unexpectedly handsome for his age. He had the aura of a hero around him.
"Yuzhvin, it's not even your first day here and you've already started a fight. Incredible! I just lost 20 bucks thinking you were going to wait for the beggining of the second week." He stated humorlessly in a deep rumbling voice.
"I don't understand how you're so sure it was me who started the fight and that I wasn't just a victim." She asked in her too-deep-for-a-girl voice with the thick Russian accent.
He replied with a chuckle and motioned for her to follow him.
Отлично! Я заработал пенальти!1 She scalded herself for not even trying to save herself the hours spent in a distention hall.
1Great! I already earned myself detention!

"I'm guessing you know why you're here, !" The headmaster questioned in an overjoyed voice. Truth be told he was exsatic to have her on detention duty. He was sure from the beggining that she was going to cause more trouble than she's worth and now he had proved it to his colleagues. Unbeknownst to her, being one of the youngest criminal masterminds wasn't the reason he hated her. The time her father and him had made a deal that was supposed to rise him in hierarchy, that only pulled him down a long shot, was though.
Now she was sitting in his office, in the seat right in front of him, wondering why she had accepted in the first place, while he was sitting in one of these expensive-looking leather chairs with the authority to punish her and pour his revenge on her.
"I'm guessing it's because you automatically thought it was my fault that the fight started." She huffed lowly showing him he was no more intimidating than a baby panda. "Simply because you don't like me. Probably, for that failed deal you made with my father." She continued in that uninterested tone.
"How do you know about that?"
"Well, you just told me, didn't you?"
She was just like her father. And that was starting to irritate him already.
"You're here because you're disturbing the Academy's order even before classes have started. Don't play smart with me, young lady!" He stated again with an arrogant smirk on his face.
"I don't think that will be possible, sir!" she retorted back confidently.
"What do you mean?"
"Playing smart. I'm afraid I don't know any other way." the smirk on her face lasted longer than expected. From the principle's office all the way to the detention hall.

~Two months later~

White ceiling. Concrete and metal. Footsteps outside the door every 5 seconds. Clicking shoes. Conversations about how it was finally last period and everybody could go back to their dorms and have some free time.
It was the last week of Dagmara's detention. The Teachers Council had decided that, because she was a dynamic person, four hours a day locked into an empty classroom were the best detention they could give her. Running laps and doing excessive exercise would only tune her better as the machine she already was.
Before Daga was just about ready to break the door and run away a new voice sounded it was closer than all of the others. Shouting. Laughing. Then suddenly the door unlocked and a boy her age was shoved there by one of the Gym instructors.
"I hope you finally get some sense knocked into you. " He yelled wuth his thick Italian accent "A few hours in the isolator with her must be enough." he mumbled to himself as he left and locked the door again.
The guy seemed to be quite amused by this and as he looked around and noticed her sitting there he smiled even wider. He wasn't at all bad looking but nothing exceptional.
Blonde hair, a little darker than hers, grass-green eyes and chiseled face and body. He had a rough, edgy face with square jaw and prominent cheek bones. The only at least soft looking part of his face were his lips, plump and pink. His body was as toned as a truck: thick neck, arms and legs, his vains bulging just a little from his forearms.
All in all, he looked like the perfect american soldier: strong, attractive, with the brain of a bird and willing to do everything "for his country". This guy was definitely a part of the so called "American mafia".
"Hey, bae! What'cha got send here for? Being too damn hot?" typically american accent, extent usage of simple, short words. What more is there to say!?
Daga decided to reply with silence, hoping that it would set her message that she didn't want to have the least of a conversation with him. If not that then her thin eyebrows scrunching and lips scowling would do it. Apparently, chicken-brain had plans to start one with her anyway.
"Playing that on me, doll? Your silence only means you want me." He tried advancing on her as he ALMOST put his hand on her shoulder. Before he could, though, his hand was grabbed and he was thrown on the ground and a foot was placed on his neck, choking him half to death.
"Try that again and I'll rip your heart out!" She growled lowly pulling at his arm, making it stand in an awkward angle. That must have hurt. She let him go quickly thinking he finally decided against flirting with her. This time she was right but not flirting doesn't mean not talking.
"So, you're the one everyone's been talkin' 'bout? You're that Russian girl everyone's been saying to stay away from, ain't ya?"
"Maybe you should listen to what everyone says."
She got a gigle as a reply and all too soon he was sat in front of her on one of the many empty desks.
"Nah, sweetheart, I ain't leaving you that easy." Невероятно!1 "Just like a piece of candy: you're hard on the outside but soft and sugary on the inside." He laughed and turned around and showed her the back of his uniform.
Rustling and shouting outside the door caught both their attention.
"C'mon, professor it wasn't on purpose! I swear! Don't give me detention! Please!" Ты шутишь?2
And as her hopes were broken, another boy her age was shoved in through the door. He stumbled a little as the lock clicked shut all over again and when he finally stood on his feet again he started looking around.
Now, the new add in the detention hall was someone she already knew. The dark-skined guy that had defended the one who spilled his coffee on her.
"Oh, it's you again?" He exclaimed, faking excitement.
"I could say the same!" She replied not even looking away from the ceiling.
"Hey, dude didn't think I'd see you here." The blonde smirked.
Daga hadn't had the chance to read him the first time they met so she used the opportunity to entertain her brain.
Muscularly, strongly built but not from the fitness center. He had his fair share of practical lessons judging by the old and faded scratches on his exposed arms. Shortly cut hair, meaning either military service or commando dad. That and the way his back was always straight, posture stern and precise, meant that his father had taught him well. Though if he was a military child he wouldn't have been there. So, his father was disciplined, intelligent and strict. His hands were trembling. He obviously wasn't nervous, didn't have any cardiac issues or high blood pressure so it must be abstinence. Nicotine abstinence isn't this strong and he doesn't really seem like a cigarette-smoker. It must be something stronger. Meth perhaps. This combined with the facts collected about his father, and a few more, led to the conclusion he was a the son of one of the world's drug magnats. But he wouldn't have been here if it wasn't known that, either his family is dead or that they were a big deal, or perhaps both. She raked her mind to find the answers of the last question. There were a few of the biggest names in the area that had been killed or captured lately. Daniels, McDavis, Sanders, that Italian guy- Ferrero and...
"Hey, we didn't get on the right foot. I..um... sorry I attacked you. I'm..."
"Bryce O'Jay Collins." the name shot out of her mouth faster than a bullet. The teen in front of her looked at her in disbelief as the hand he had been holding out for her fell.
"How did you know?"
"Well, I now know for sure."
Needless to say, Bryce tried to become as close to her as he could just so that he could admire her intelligence from up close. And the other guy, Caleb, just tagged along for the heck of it. Daga had objected and fought against both at first but then she admited to herself that she quite liked having someone to talk to around and not just dry facts and information.
They soon became a very popular trio known to the whole academy for always getting detention for doing strange things that disturb the piece of the academy.