Hello fellow readers! I'll make this short, this story is part of a multiverse project that I've decided to undertake. So this isn't the only story that will occur. I hope you enjoy my work and can supply me with any ideas for future plots that you want to read. Thanks!

Summary: It's been three years since the Vespers Incident. The victims were rescued but the Vespers weren't completely destroyed. Now that the five branches are united, the Vespers better watch out. In the midst of all of this Natalie Kabra questions her existence, her soul deeply crushed by her past. However, she isn't the only one: Dan Cahill, now shunned by most of the family, except by the original hunters, is also in the same boat as her. Just when they thought they were from two different galaxies, they're shared pain brings them together. But what does this entail? All that lies ahead of them is the path of the broken souls.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTER OF THE 39 CLUES UNIVERSE. ALL CREDIT GOES TO RICK RIORDAN AND AFFILIATED AUTHORS!

Chapter 1: The Thoughts I Hide

Somewhere in the London Metropolis, precisely 2:00 am.

Cold sweat broke out on Natalie, as adrenaline rushed through her body.

'Great, as if this jumpsuit isn't uncomfortable enough' she thought, irritated. 'Now's not the time, Natalie!' she quickly admonished herself. She rhythmically clenched and unclenched her hands and inhaled deep, waking up her body for her mission.

"Are you having an asthma attack?" an amused voice quipped in her ears. A vein throbbed in her head, and Natalie pressed the clear earpiece that covered her ear and snapped back.

"I'd like to see you try to break into one of the largest bases of the Vesper Network without shitting yourself, Starling!"

"Nah, I think I'll take a rain check, but hey I have bollocks take them down if they ever broke into our base"

"Bollocks? What bollocks? Oh my, I didn't know you had any to begin with"

The other side radio of the radio was now filled with two voices, one laughing and the other one grunting in displeasure.

"And Ms. Prim and Proper wins again. You shouldn't have annoyed her, Ned."

"Can it, Ted!"

"If you juveniles are done bickering, I'd like to make sure that the building security is dampened, so I can get in and out without finding myself in the afterlife!"

"Don't worry, all security has been dampened, courtesy of the Infiltrator who's been feeding us information since three months ago," said Ted

"So you can go in and come out without any bloody messes or dismembered appendages, yay!" said Ned, gleefully.

"Well, that's good Ned, because when I come back, I'm going make a bloody mess when I dismember you!"

Before the offended Starling could retaliate, another voice joined in, this one a deep baritone.

"Will you guy stop irritating her, you're supposed to be twenty years old, not twelve."

"Jonah, just because you can legally drink and gamble since two days ago, doesn't mean that you can act like you're forty years older than us" said Ned, while his brother agreed with a 'yup'.

"Can we focus on the mission!" snapped Natalie. 'Of all the people I had to be teamed with.' She then turned her question to Jonah.

"Are you ready?"

"Affirmative; I've secured my position, all systems are ready to go, and when Thing One and Thing Two send me the signal, I'll fly the copter to the roof and you and our Infiltrator agent can hop on board we'll live happily ever after"

None of the words struck a chord in her except for the last four. 'Live happily ever after…what a lie. There's no such thing for me' she thought bitterly. But she quickly steeled her mind 'Focus damn it, keep counting the 'ifs' in your life and you soon won't have a life to live!'

Natalie inhaled and exhaled once more. "Jonah, are you sure you can't tell us who the Infiltrator agent is?"

"Sorry, Janus law. We can't tell others branches of our agents while they're in the middle of a mission; it's too delicate of a situation.

"Had to ask Jonah"

Jonah sensed the subtle layer of doubt and fear in the seventeen year old's voice. "Don't fret, Natalie. She'll definitely meet up with you inside. And she's really good at crowd control, so in case you have to fight, you'll have some back-up"

"I'll take your word for it" Natalie checked the built in watch in her sleek, black jumpsuit. I read 2:05 am. It was time to break in.

"Any other reminders?" she asked Ned and Ted.

"The security of the building is dampened by an EMP of sorts. It encompasses the structure like a dome, but it's very delicate. Because of its nature, any outside signals sent in will disrupt and dissolve the dampener, possible causing the security to go into panic mode." Said Ned.

"However, signals sent from the inside out won't disrupt it, so you only can initiate conversations with us." Ted followed up. "The only way we can talk to you is only if you keep your radio channel open when you talk to us, got it?"

"Loud and clear"

Natalie did one last and quick survey across the dark alley in which she was hidden. Stepping out into the light of the road, she quickly looked for oncoming vehicles. The roads were empty. She quickly and quietly ran across the street to the huge skyscraper in front. The building was in the southern end of the London metropolis; Williams and Stonecash Investors, it was called. Suspected to be a possible major financial string in the Vesper Network, the Supreme Council of the Cahill family (or SC) charged the Janus branch to infiltrate: They were the ideal choice, as Infiltration was one of many unique talents of the Janus. The agent was there for three months posing as a janitor giving her access to many floors allowing her to feed the SC a plethora of information, but none of it ever pointing to Vesper activity.

But that all changed within two months, when she was 'cleaning' the eighty-third floor in the high-rise, she overheard a secret conversation between some of the executive members of the company. Upon hearing the words 'Cahills', 'vengeance' and 'Vesper One' being tossed around, she listened in and send the information over to the Janus HQ, from where info was directly sent to the SC. After a much considered discussion, it was decided that the Ekaterina, and Lucian braches would coordinate with the Janus in the retrieval mission. Considering the important and delicate nature of this mission they were dealing with, it was decided that each branch involved had to balance between picking the most talented of agents and picking agents who would work best with each other. The Starling siblings minus Sinead were chosen from the Ekats, and Jonah as the leader and intermediary between the Infiltrator and the rest of the team. He also threw a monkey wrench into the Lucian's choice by specifically requesting Natalie. The Lucians were going to pick an agent more oriented to Breaking and Entering or Espionage, but Jonah stated that Natalie and the Infiltrator would work well in case they had to fight their way out. It's not that Natalie wasn't a talented agent; after all she was mostly on par with a B-Class agent when she was eleven. And despite becoming an A-Class agent three years ago, the seventeen year old still felt much more comfortable in the Assassination department. But she was chosen for a reason, and after a month's worth of intense training and planning the retrieval mission was ready to be carried out.

Natalie had reached the front of the building. It was much taller up front, a titan made of cement, steel and glass, whose eighty-three floor height seemed to pierce the sky above. She saw her reflection on the glass, and a young adult started at her. Her hair was in tight bun, and her amber eyes glowed in the night. Then she jumped onto the glass window and her palms and feet made contact, and she stuck to it. Natalie exhaled. The palms and soles of the suit had micro-hairs that clung to practically anything, and allowed the wearer to scale vertical surfaces.

'Leave to the Ekats to make my life easier.' The jumpsuit she was wearing was black, sleek and incredibly light; it covered her entire body save for the face. It was made by the Ekat Engineers specifically for Breaking and Entering missions. Not only did it muffle her steps, it reduced air drag on her body so she could run further and faster, bulletproof as far as small firearms were concerned, transmitted ultrasonic waves from its built-in boots which allowed Engineers at HQ to build a map of the surroundings up to fifteen feet, and in case she was caught, generated an electric shock with enough voltage to induce a vegetative state, all the while keeping the wearer insulated.

As Natalie pulled her Spiderman act, she felt the wind gently caressing her frame.

'According to the mission files, I need to make to the fiftieth floor, where I'll rendezvous with the agent, help her hack into the computers, sap the information and get out of here'

Natalie skillfully made her way up the building. She stopped and looked down. While this may have bothered a lot of people, it didn't even faze her; she had seen more frightening things in her life.

'I guess all that training paid off,' she thought to herself. She was already fifteen floors up, and it had only taken her seven minutes. She then looked up and started climbing. By the time she reached the thirtieth floor the gentle breeze had turned into a strong wind, and for a moment she thought that it would knock her off the window, but her palms and boots stuck and didn't let go. She continued climbing until she had reached the fiftieth floor. She then began moving her way along the glass, until she found what she was looking for. From afar it might've looked like one of the windows was nice and whole, but Natalie knew better.

'All right, just a small nudge then.' Stretching her hand forward, she pushed her hand on the next window glass. As if it had been hole-punched, a circle of glass fell inside, without breaking. She quickly made her way inside, and saw that the glass had landed on some sort of soft, plush-like material. She sighed.

"Kabra to HQ, I have entered the building" she whispered, as she pressed her earpiece. Then she felt a slight buzzing emanate from the suit.

"HQ to Kabra, affirmative, your suit has been switched from sleep mode to active mode, all systems stable from our side. What about yours?" Asked Ted

"Everything's okay"

"All right, we're on schedule as of now. It only took you thirty minutes, as expected to get up here. Ned's in charge of the sonar map, so let him know if you need a visual. Now you only have an hour before security comes back on"

"Affirmative"

Natalie looked around the floor. It was dark, except for the occasional light fixture on the wall. It was your stereotypical office area with multiple cubicles. Natalie ran quietly towards the door. She put her ear to it trying to listen for any movement on the other side.

"Kabra here, Ned is there anyone on the other side." She whispered.

Natalie hardly felt the boots of her suit vibrate, as it let loose a burst of ultrasonic waves.

"Negative; there's nothing out of the ordinary in the sonar map."

"Thanks"

The teenage agent opened the door and, just as the Ned said, there's was no one there. She ran to the end of the hallway and took a left and continued running until she stopped in front of a T-section of the building. She took another left, and a few feet in front of her was one of the three elevators in the building. From here she was supposed to take a right and go in the Janitor's Office, where she would rendezvous with the infiltrator.

"Ding!"

Natalie whipped her head towards the sound. Someone was coming up the elevator. It was on the forty-ninth floor right now! 'WHAT! This place is supposed to be empty!'

"Starlings, we have someone coming up here right now. Ned, I need a scan!"

"Shit, the Infiltrator said that this place would be empty. Run!" shouted Ted

"Ding!"

Natalie didn't even have to be told that; she was running down the hallway, trying to reach the turn before the doors opened and someone saw her. She tossed herself on the turn, just as the doors began to open. She landed with a less-than- graceful thud.

"Ned! The scan! NOW!" she hissed into her earpiece. Her boots hummed for a moment.

"Bad news, you have two people who, from the body shape, look like guards, and they're walking your way" Natalie quickly reached back to the small backpack she had, and pulled out her dart gun, already filled with poison.

"I'll take care of-"

"NO! Don't do it. It will take too long to knock them out and they could probably alert more of them. DO NOT ENGAGE!"

Natalie, with dart gun still in hand, ran down the hallway. As she ran, she saw another elevator halfway ahead on the right side of the wall. 'Good, I'll pry it open and climb up to the next floor'

"Ding!"

'Bloody feck! Not this one too!'

This elevator door started opening too. She was stuck; there was probably more than a very good chance that guards would come from that elevator as well. 'Shit! Natalie, looks like you'll have to fight your way out of this one'. She aimed her gun in front of her, waiting for someone to step out.

Natalie was then pulled back sharply. She was pulled into a room, and the door was shut. Natalie struggled to get away but found she couldn't, as her gun was thrown away and she was put into a lock. She found her mouth covered by her right elbow joint. The captor hand's was pressing on the back of her elbow. Her other hand was pressed against her back, also immobilized in the same way. Natalie immediately analyzed the hold: From the elbow down both her hands were free, but their range was severely limited, and she couldn't summon the strength and momentum from her upper arm to break free from the hold either. Her mouth was completely covered, so she couldn't call for help. She couldn't kick back either, due her hand that was pushed into the spine, which prevented from aiming her kick accurately at her captor's lower body. She quickly thought of using the electric shock feature, but that was quickly crushed; the only way to use that feature would be A) contact the Starlings so they could remotely activate it or B) slap both her palms together which completed a circuit in the suit and generated a current.

'Wait, if drop myself straight down I can break this hold and beat the bloody shit out of this idiot'

And so Natalie relaxed her knees…only to find she stopped. The captor had placed one leg between her's preventing her from completely escaping. She was effectively immobilized.

The footsteps outside grew louder and Natalie could feel her heart about to jump out of her chest. She felt helpless

'I'm done for, it's hopeless'

Hopeless. As soon as that thought ran through her head, something in her snapped. Natalie's once calm mind was now a tempest of her most horrifying memories: those low point in her life where there seemed to be no hope, no help. It was continuous mesh of different clips from her life: her father punishing her, with a whip in hand, while she tried to stifle her cries of pain; when she fell of the edge in the Gauntlet, her scream barely audible to her ears as the wind tore around her and ground rushed to meet her; staring at the her mother in disbelief as she pointed the end of the barrel at her and pulled the trigger; the torture the Vespers put her through. It was a torrent, a typhoon, a tsunami of it all.

'NO! NO, NO, NO! I WON'T LET IT END LIKE THIS! IF I AM TO MEET DEATH AT THIS MOMENT, IT SHALL BE ON MY TERMS!' she shouted in her mind, and overwhelmed the dark scenes of her past, shutting them back from where they came. As she hardened herself with her newfound resolve, she found herself thinking about what Isabel once told her. '"Natalie, always remember that there no force more dangerous in this world than a Lucian with nothing to lose"' She chuckled, in spite of herself, at the irony of it all.

She was prepared for the worst, when the footsteps of the guards outside passed the door went down the hallway. Then they stopped

"Did you boys here anything?"

"We thought we heard something drop, but there seems to be nothing here, Boss"

"All right, keep patrolling this floor and then one above and below.

"Yes, Boss"

After a while the footsteps passed.

'What the hell?' Natalie thought to herself. There was the sound of elevators opening and, after a few seconds, closing.

"Ding!" rang the elevator as it headed down. And then her captor relaxed the grip on her elbows, and that was all that she needed. Natalie dove for her gun on the ground in front of her. She grabbed it, and whipped around to shoot her captor. Her finger was ready on the trigger, however, when she saw who her captor was she let her hand drop.

There weren't many things in life that could take Natalie off guard. After all when you're trained to become a weapon and have genetic talents that far surpass the usual Tom, Dick and Harry, having something completely stupefy you beyond reason should hardly ever occur in your life. But Natalie was having one of those moments. Her eyes looked they were going to pop and her jaw had dropped to an un-ladylike extreme.

"Sophie? Is that you?" Natalie sputtered out finally

"In the flesh, dear" said she, trying to hold back a laugh. 'My, my, Natalie's still up and at it, I guess'

Natalie couldn't believe it. Standing before her was none other than her best friend Sophie Watson: beautiful, lithe, long wavy blond hair and cornflower blue eyes. She was originally sent to spy on Natalie at Flynte School, the posh school that catered to the elite and gifted. Despite her Lucian training, Natalie was completely unaware of the Janus spy that had been planted for the three years up until the Clue Hunt. It was due to Sophie spying that the Janus branch was able to get valuable information straight from the Kabras themselves and keep themselves safe and one step ahead of their serpentine relatives. Natalie only found out about her true allegiances after the incident at the Gauntlet, where Sophie offered an olive branch and Natalie accepted it. Ever since then their friendship soon evolved into something akin to sisterhood, exacerbated by the Vesper Incident and peace between the five branches.

'Of course they would send Sophie to be the Infiltrator' Natalie groaned in her head.

"I see you're still full of life and its joys, Natalie" said Sophie, winking at her. She was expecting a snide remark from her best friend; Natalie's sarcasm and snappishness was one of the many idiosyncrasies that endeared to Sophie.

What Sophie did not expect was to have Natalie runs towards her and suffocate her with a hug; it was now her turn to be surprised.

"You have no idea what I've been through. I thought you were gone on that humanitarian trip to Guatamala, where I couldn't contact you at all. And then out of nowhere, I get requested by your boyfriend to join a mission, not that I had a choice any way. But you have-"

"Natalie..."

"- torture they put me through. Never mind the training-"

"Natalie"

"-those idiotic Starling brothers make me want to-"

"NATALIE" Sophie snapped

"What"

Smiling lightly, Sophie hugged her best friend. "I missed you too. Now focus, we have a deadline. We can catch up after the mission"

"Okay then" Natalie pressed her earpiece, "Kabra to Cahill HQ, I have rendezvoused with the Infiltrator"

"So who's the agent?" asked Ted.

"It's none other than our lovely team leader's girlfriend" said Natalie, with as much sarcasm as she could muster at the moment.

"Sophie, huh? Well no wonder, she is one of the best Infiltrator agents that the Janus have. Anyway from here on out you can relax a bit. Sophie already knows the plan; you have around fifty minutes before security comes back online. Also ask her why this place is swarming with guards 'cuz this puts a real damper on our tight schedule" said Ted

"Okay, I shall, thanks"

Natalie then turned to Sophie, who was preparing her gear. She was wearing a black under armor, store bought from the look of it, not the standard agent wear. She had a backpack on her, bigger than Natalie's, but small enough to not hinder her movement. She strapped on a belt that had a sheathed katana on the left side, and covered her hand with combat gloves. And lastly, she took an earpiece and put it on. Pressing it she spoke:

"Sophie, to Jonah: I've met up with Natalie and everything going according to plan so far"

A few seconds passed, and the Jonah's rich, baritone voice rang in her ears.

"Continue as briefed. This mission is of utmost importance so take don't take any risks, understood?"

"Affirmative. Anything else?"

"Hmmm…might I interest milady for an exciting and magical day in Paris, afterword?"

Sophie found herself torn between blushing at Jonah's lust-laced tone, and whacking his head at the bad timing.

"Now's not the time Jonah…."

"Not my fault. It's been three WHOLE months, babe" he whined, and Sophie could practically see him pouting.

"Jonah, heel!"

"Fine, but when you come back, we're going to Paris even if I have to drag you there. Good Luck"

Sophie looked up to see two amber eyes glaring holes into her; Natalie was pissed.

"Are you two lovebirds done?" she spat out, with extra malice when she said the word 'lovebirds'.

As much as Sophie loved her best friend, Natalie's extreme-and almost religious- aversion to romance and PDA among couples is didn't sit right with her. Sophie always had a hunch that this had something to do with what had happened to her in the past few years.

'I'll need to have a talk with her later.'

Shrugging the thought aside, Sophie smiled.

"Yes, yes. Now let's go and screw these Vespers over"

Natalie nodded and opened the door, and the two agents slipped into the hallway and ran towards the building staircase, their footsteps muffled by the carpet.

"Why are there guards here? We were told this place was going to be empty." Natalie asked

"Well that was a month ago. These plonkers have been here for a whole week now, and I think they must've started that new project I heard them talking about way back when." Sophie explained. "I think the heightened security is a sign that the plan's coming on it way in this very building"

"I see, but if you're the Infiltrator, couldn't you get into the system and retrieve the information needed?"

"I tried. Trying to hack into it myself would take too long, and the password needed changes every day. Here's the stairs. We need to head to the sixty-fifth floor, that's where the Executive Committee's and CEO's offices are."

Opening the door, the two girls ran up the stairs quietly, a technique that every agent had to learn before they graduated as a D-Rank agent. Before they even knew it they had reached a door that had the number '65' in large black paint.

"Ned, I need a scan"

Natalie's boots hummed again.

"All's clear as what the map shows"

Natalie nodded at Sophie, and then opened the door, and true to what the sonar map had shown, the coast was clear. Natalie had begun to run, when Sophie grabbed her arm, shaking her head. She pointed at the floor, which was hardwood, instead of the standard carpet they had seen before. Then taking the lead, Sophie quietly stalked forward with Natalie behind her. They stopped at a T in the path. Looking at Natalie, she pointed at her boots.

"Ned" whispered Natalie into her earpiece. She waited a few seconds before she got her reply

"Bad news, you have four guardsmen in front of a door. I'm guessing that must be about ten meters away on your left. You'll have to take them out."

Natalie reached behind, unzipped one of the pockets in her backpack, and took out a small marble-sized sphere. She then jump into the left path of the T, and threw the sphere as hard she could towards the guards.

"Hey! Who the hell-" The guard wasn't able to complete his sentence as the sphere hit the floor in front of him, broke apart, fizzed, and suddenly enveloped him and his three colleagues in white haze. All that could be heard now was the sounds of violent coughing fits and the thuds of falling bodies. In about ten seconds the haze started to dissipate, and all that was left afterword were tiny pieces of the sphere's shell.

Sophie and Natalie made their way to the CEO's office.

"What in bloody hell was that?" Sophie said pointing to the now knocked out guards.

"It's a knockout grenade, standard Lucian issue," explained Natalie. "It consists of a chemical compound that is covered in a shell of calcium fluoride. The shell is weak enough that a small impact will break the sphere apart. The chemical compound inside violently reacts with oxygen and sublimates in a sudden exothermic reaction, creating a cloud of knock-out gas" As soon as she finished, Natalie had picked the lock on the door.

"Sophie, let's bring the guards inside, so any others who patrol by won't suspect that anything"

"On it, You Highness!" said the Janus Infiltrator, with a wide grin. In the meantime, Natalie turned on the lights and took in the sights of the office. It certainly was built for a king: It looked like the Oval Office had clashed with the Queen's private study. The walls were a cream yellow, with portraits and various trophies decorating it. The CEO was a collector of sorts, it seemed, as there were antiques ranging from Ming vases to Egyptian-themed furniture. In the center of the room there was a large, ornate, and hand-carved table with a thirty-six inch monitor on it. She also noticed that the office had no windows.

'So this is why I couldn't just climb all the way up to the sixty-fourth floor. Leave it to the Vespers to make my job harder.'

After Sophie dragged the four guards in and closed the door, Natalie contacted the Starlings

"Kabra to HQ, we're in the CEO's office"

"Good job, and you're still on schedule," answered Ted. " You have less than forty minutes left, so let's not lose time. You remember that USB drive that I gave you before you headed out? Plug it into a port and turn on the computer and let Ned and I take care of things from here. Oh keep the channel open until we're done"

"All right"

Sophie and Natalie walked behind the desk and Natalie did as she was told. The sound of the computer warming up and turning on broke the silence, and soon, a bright blue light filled the room. Then a small screen popped up that requested the password. Natalie and Sophie watched as the flash drive glowed white, and a new screen popped up that read 'Identity confirmed: Welcome'. The screen color glowed white as the desktop appeared.

"Tsk, tsk. I can't believe it was this easy to hack into the computer" said Ned

"I know right! Sinead's digital diary has more security than this!" followed Ted

"So what are you guys up to" said Sophie, now joining the channel as well.

"Well you see that flash drive also acts as a bug that's connected to HQ's M.O.S. (Mainframe Operating System) and operates on its frequency, allowing us to remotely hack into the computer. Your ear piece acts as a channel between the two devices. All right, we've accessed the files, cloning the hardrive." said Ted with glee.

The flash drive glowed white, and the computer hummed louder as it got to work.

"Wait, you're cloning an entire hard drive? Doesn't that exceed the capacity of the flash drive?" asked Sophie, looking at the 256 gigabyte device.

"Yes it does. The flash drive will copy onto it however much it can, and any remaining information will be transmitted to the M.O.S., so it's imperative that you keep you channels open." said Ned.

The entire process took five minutes.

"All right we're done. Give us a minute you guys, we have one last thing to do" asked Ned, and the two girls heard some rapid typing on the other end.

"Okay we're done. Pull out the flash drive, and shut the computer down. Good Luck on your way out. We'll update Jonah. Let us know when you're ready reach the roof so we can give him the signal. You have around thirty-five minutes left" Ted told them.

After doing what they were told, Natalie faced Sophie.

"Let's get you home" said with a short-lived smile

"Yes, let's"

They ran out onto the hallway towards the entrance of the stairwell. Opening the door they ran up quietly. Sophie couldn't help but fantasize about finally leaving the place.

'Home. God I haven't been there in three months. My own warm bed, sleeping in, no physical labor, and…Jonah'

They had just passed the door that led to the seventieth floor, and were running up the next staircase, when Sophie heard the door swing open. The two girls whipped around to see two guards step in and reach their hand behind them.

"NO!" yelled Sophie and she ran forward, grabbed Natalie and pulled her best friend behind her. Just as she'd done that, two guards pulled out their guns and-

"BANG! BANG!"

Two shots rang through the air, and hit the Janus; one on her chest, the other on her stomach.

All Natalie saw and felt was two guards step forward, Sophie yelling, and suddenly being tugged behind. She fell on the step behind Sophie. She was about to get up, when she heard the gunshots, and that was when Natalie's world slowed down.

She didn't just hear that…did she? Natalie looked up and she saw Sophie, her arms outstretched.

'No, they must've missed, she's still standing' she thought nervously, her heart picking up its pace. And then she saw Sophie fall forward, slowly and gracefully. Her arm reached forward, but Natalie found herself slowed down completely, no matter how fast she wanted to reach for her. Sophie's hair formed a halo around her as she fell, like a fallen angel from heaven with its wings cut off, falling with such cruel elegance; just like the rest of the Janus. There was grace and elegance in everything they did, even death it seemed. Natalie's ears registered the dull thud of her body hitting the floor at the bottom, and that when she saw it, the small upward tug on the shooter's lips.

Suddenly, blood deluged through her entire body, time sped up and Natalie's world flew apart.

"AAAHHHHH!" screamed Natalie, as she pulled out a dart gun, this one a bit bigger than the last one, took aim and fired.

"BANG! BANG!" the two guards fell down and started chocking and then convulsing, and before they knew it, they were limp. But she kept shooting dead bodies in rage. Soon, five more guards came through door; her body didn't hesitate.

'I'll make you PAY! How do like the feel of these cyanide bullets!' she screamed in her head as shifted her aim and shot. Five more bodies fell, and she still kept shooting away after they had died. Once more five more came rushing.

'It doesn't matter, they're going down'

"Click! Click!" the gun's magazine was empty. And as soon as Natalie's rage possessed her, fear now took its place. But the guards didn't stop running. They jumped over Sophie's body and rushed for her. She didn't have time to reload.

'I'm going to die!'

"AGGGGHHH!" came a beastly scream, and Natalie watched as one the guards fell down, and blood splattered on the wall on his right. The two men in front of her turned behind them. All they saw was a white diagonal gleam, as one guard found his torso separated from his waist; and the other lost his arm and balance, fell of the rail and plummeted to the bottom of the building, his blood-curdling scream ringing in the air. The two men nearest to the door stood frozen as another white gleam, this time followed by a flash of blond hair, cut across and decapitated them, their bodies falling as it spouted blood where once there was a head.

In the middle of it all stood Sophie, her sword outstretched and covered in a film of blood. The walls on her left and right were painted in the deep red liquid. She looked up, and saw Natalie in shock, and offered her a smile. That was all it took, as the Lucian agent rushed towards her and glomped her. And then she heard her sob.

"I…I thought *sob* I lost you" wailed Natalie, her head buried in her shoulder. Sophie allowed herself so sigh.

"It's all right. It'll take more than just a gun to take me down"

Natalie looked up and pulled away.

"How did?…How the?"

In response, Sophie lifted her under armor, and showed what lay underneath. It looked like thin flak jacket, with overlapping scales reminiscent of a reptile. That's when it struck Natalie.

"Dragon Skin Kevlar…" she said amazed

"Not just any Dragon Skin Kevlar; it's the Ekats' version. It stopped the bullet from piercing my body, but I was shot at such close range that, the force wasn't absorbed properly, and stunned me for a while. Now come on, we need to head out. There might be some more above we need to take care of."

Natalie nodded and quickly wiped her tears away.

'I can cry about this later, but now I survive'

Knowing that they'd been found out, they wasted no time running quietly, and flew up the stairs, with Sophie in the front and Natalie bringing up the rear.

Just as Sophie had predicted there were more guards that filled the staircase above. Sophie began by stretching out her blade and jumping from stair rails, to walls, to heads, in an erractic, but graceful dance; there was no limit to her mobility as any and every surface was within her range. Her katana gleamed beautifully in its cruelty as it slashed and drew blood.

Natalie filled the air with gunshots, her aim precise and deadly, working with Sophie's movements. When she jumped away, those who hadn't met their deaths by steel met their deaths by poison. When she had to stop to reload, Sophie rushed into the crowd, weaving in and out, aiming for the legs, hands and heads. And this was how they made their way up for the next six floors, painting the white brick walls thick with blood and littering the steps with bodies. Any guards remaining had abandoned their stations after hearing and seeing the massacre.

The two agents were exhausted, Sophie even more so being a Janus. Natalie quickly contacted HQ

"Ned *huff-huff* Ted, get Jonah"

"On it, you have six minutes left. Hurry! There's a good chance that the security will go into panic mode once the dampening field wears off" yelled Ted.

Looking at Sophie, she grabbed her arm and began to run up the next seven floors trying to beat the clock.

'If we don't make it in time we'll be locked in!' thought Sophie as she and Natalie ran as fast as they could. It seemed to both of them that they wouldn't make it, they had two floors, and a bit more than a minute left. They ran faster, if that was possible, and soon the roof door was within their sights. With newfound motivation the two agents ran straight for the door, with Natalie's hand reaching and twisting the handle, and without missing a beat, dove forward and landed on the concrete rooftop. No sooner had they done that when numerous the building alarms started ringing, and the door that they had come through suddenly shut and locked itself.

As the two seventeen year olds were trying to catch their breath, they heard a noise of chopped wind approaching them. Turning to their left, they saw a helicopter come towards them. It was Jonah! He hovered the helicopter above them, the wind gusting against them, and dropped a rope ladder from the front passenger side. Summoning their last bit of strength, the girls climbed up the ladder and into the copter.

Natalie slumped in the back seat while Sophie sat in the front. Jonah pressed one of the many glowing buttons and the rope ladder started reeling in. He then turned on his channel.

"This is Jonah to HQ, I have retrieved both agents, and declare this mission both successful and complete."

"We've received your statement, now get everyone home"

"Next destination, home, you guys" said Jonah as he turned the copter flew forward.

"Home, huh?" said Natalie, and then letting exhaustion taking over her, closed her eyes and gave herself to the only that brought her peace these days, sleep.

Sophie took a blanket, pulled it out of its cover and draped her friend in it. She looked at Natalie with a sad smile. She then sat back down in her seat. Jonah glanced over Natalie, and then looked at his girlfriend with concern, and found the same emotion in her blue eyes. She looked at him and said

"She's been through a lot"

Jonah knew Sophie wasn't just talking about the mission. Going back to his task of piloting the copter, he reached for and briefly squeezed her hand.

"Haven't we all?"

The rest of the ride was quiet, but they were heading home, and that's all that mattered.

THE END OF CHAPTER 1

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING

Thanks for reading everyone! Please R&R to give me your thoughts and comments. This is part of a large project and every comment helps! NO FLAMES, but constructive criticism is more than greatly appreciated, as I feel like parts of this chapter dragged on and weren't good enough. I know that you might have some questions about some of the contents, such as, what's an A, B, C, D-rank agent, or what's Infiltration, or the Supreme Council. The major part of this project involves expanding the Cahill role. Because of this, I have decided to make this a multiverse project where there will be multiple stories (mostly one-shots), all connected to this one in some way. About you questions, I'm creating a supporting story that will allow me to answer your questions (kind of like the BLACK BOOK OF BURIED SECRETS type thing.) provide trivia, and my additions to the Cahill story. The reason for this is to allow me to focus on this plot completely, without having to digress unnecessarily. Drop by any suggestions (by PM) that you'd like to see be part of the project; it's a massive project in the making and your ideas help! Thanks for your patience.