001: I Feel Like a Leaf in a Breeze

Tossing her long, dark red, wavy hair over her shoulder, Angela Harper smoothed her black blazer over her waist as her eyes flickered nervously up to the numbers over the elevator doors. The number nine changed to ten and Angela took a deep breath as she tried to compose herself, knowing that in less than twenty seconds her life would be taking a drastic change.

The elevator doors finally opened, and she began to walk down the hall in a confident manner. However as she took her fourth or fifth step, she soon realized that she had no idea where she needed to go next. All she was told was to report at the New York FBI office for Missing Persons. And so here she was. Floor twelve. Missing Persons. 7:30 AM, on the dot.

Angela took several more tentative steps, trying to look as if she belonged. Looking around, she saw people moving all around her, working almost seamlessly with one another. A file was passed from a slender blonde to a man with cute light brown hair then slid across the table to a focused-looking black woman and finally handed off to a tall, dark man—

Angela's steps slowed as she eyed him with interest as he moved around the table with the file in hand. Before she could even think, her eyes traced his slim profile. Even from where he was standing, she could see a charismatic grin playing with his lips.

Completely lost in her own thoughts, Angela nearly walked head on into a chair placed in the hallway. She quickly realized the object in front of her and redirected her path as subtlety as possible, praying that no one had seen her very un-Angela-like clumsy maneuver.

"Special Agent Angela Harper."

It wasn't a question; it was almost an order.

Turning sharply, Angela saw an older, commanding man walking towards her. Everything about him mandated respect. From his analyzing stare to his short grey hair, this without a doubt had to be—

"Special Agent Jack Malone," he said briskly, extending his hand to her.

She took it and embraced it in a firm handshake. One of her pet peeves was people with weak handshakes.

"You get a little lost?" Jack asked her, his eyes flickering for the briefest moment to the chair that she had almost tripped over. His voice was hard, but Angela caught the trace of a small grin on his face.

"Oh, uh, no," she replied with an awkward smile that was more like a grimace. "I just… noticed that it looks like the Dallas office. More than I thought it would anyways."

"You'll find that most of them do look a lot alike. Except maybe the Chicago offices." A small muscle in his lower jaw twitched before he gestured to a large office behind a pair of double glass doors. "Let's talk in my office for awhile before I let this place begin to rip you apart."

"FBI offices do that," she commented as she followed Jack's lead behind the glass doors.

Jack's office was a strong mixture of modern metallic and welcoming wood features. The chairs they sat in were plush ebony arm chairs and his desk was a classic black with a glass top. The floors were deep-grained wood and the walls were partly of the same, beautiful wood, but they were mostly large glass panels that gave him a full view of all the work that took place around him. The walls were littered with various diplomas and achievement awards showing that this man had been in the business for a long time.

"An impressive resume as a field agent," Jack said, taking some pieces of paper from a manila folder. "How long have you been working for the FBI?"

"Two years as a tech right out of college—"

"Where?"

"Stanford."

Jack inclined his head slightly to acknowledge the school as he continued to look at her file.

"Uh, two years as a tech to get my footing in the Bureau. And then I was a field agent for five years. Or it would have been five years in January."

"And this transfer sent in by Agent Beckers… you specifically requested for a desk-watching or tech job. Why the sudden change?"

This was the question that Angela had prayed that he or anyone for that mater would ask. Wasn't it just enough to say "because I just do?"

Apparently not.

Angela was silent for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say when Jack nodded slowly in understanding.

"Agent Beckers told me," Jack said, his voice slightly lower and softer than before. "About what happened in May."

Her eyes shot up to meet his. She felt anger, betrayal, relief, embarrassment, and fear all at the same time. She wasn't sure what to say, so she simply remained silent.

"Now I admire you trying to grasp hold of your situation after that incident and not forcing yourself back into the field," Jack continued. "And to be truthful, you've come at an opportune moment. Your timing of transfer couldn't have been better."

Angela's eyes seemed to ask the question before the words could form in her mouth.

"Our team…" Jack glanced out the window to his right to the four people outside sitting around a table. "We're going through a hard time. We're all strained, and the job is really taking its toll since there are only five of us. I hired an extra field agent last year, hoping to add some fresh blood and to take the stress off, but it completely backfired." Jack sighed heavily. "They're frustrated with each other and with themselves. Adding another field agent would surely tear the entire team apart. But then I heard that Michael Beckers was going to transfer one of his agents who just wanted to watch a desk. It seemed perfect. My plan here is to allow an extra agent on site with you in the office, checking numbers, backgrounds, and other office stuff. You'll probably be working with the tech crew somewhat too."

"That's basically what I had in mind as well, Agent Malone."

"Jack," he corrected her.

His eyes flashed outside the window to find all four of this agents looking into the office. They stared coldly for only a second, and then they turned away, unabashed at being caught.

"There's, uh, just one more thing," Jack said almost hesitantly as he turned his gaze back to Angela. "The team, as I said, is rather… strained, and really did not appreciate the last addiction to the team. I had to transfer her to Miami less than a year into her stay in New York. So adding you… I'm hoping they'll take to you better than Agent Delgado."

"But I'm not really a field agent anymore," Angela reasoned, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "So I'm not really part of the 'team.'"

"Oh, you are," Jack said seriously, "but they won't think so. Of course you may seem less threatening as a desk-watcher, but I'm just going to warn you to not expect… a warm welcome. Even colder than a typical FBI welcome. I'm hoping after time they'll get used to the idea. But…"

"I understand, Agent—Jack."

"Good," he said, standing up. "Now I'll show you to your desk and then we have to return to our current case."

Jack ushered her quickly out of his office over to where the rest of the team was residing. Now that she knew what she was facing, Angela was almost dreading meeting the people who she would be working with for the next at least four to five years.

As she and Jack approached them, it became apparent that they either didn't hear them walking towards them or didn't care that they were listening.

"…not really going to be part of the team," the brown-haired man was saying. "Jack said she was just going to be a desk watcher."

"Who also just came out of the Dallas office as a five year field agent," the blonde woman said, looking pointedly at him. "What field agent requests a desk job?"

"Maybe she couldn't take the pressure," the black woman said, crossing her arms.

"Whatever the reason," the tall, dark ("and handsome," Angela's mind added subconsciously) man said. "The only members that concern this team are already here. I don't need some pencil-pushing wannabe field agent out of Dallas telling me what—"

"This is Agent Angela Harper," Jack said loudly as they finally reached the rest of the team.

The team turned and observed her, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"This is Agent Martin Fitzgerald," Jack said, nodding to the cute brown-haired man. Martin simply raised his hand in recognition and moved his mouth a little as if he was trying for a welcoming smile. "Agent Samantha Spade—" the attractive blonde— "Agent Vivian Johnson—" the seemingly veteran black woman— "and Agent Danny Taylor."

Danny's greeting, if you wanted to call it that, was probably the coldest. He barely moved at all except a slight narrowing of his eyes.

"Angela will be simply helping you out around the office with cross-referencing numbers, running background checks, and things like that. And also working as a tech." Jack concluded his introduction by looking at his watch and then at Angela. "Your desk is over there, and you'll be busy soon enough after we get some leads. Sam, Vivian. We're going to talk to the teachers at the school again. Danny and Martin, keeping looking for the next door neighbor."

With that, Jack and the two women left, leaving Angela alone with Martin and Danny. Angela opened her mouth to say something, but before she could even think of anything to say, they both gave her a superior look and walked away. Her eyes narrowed at their retreating backs, and she too turned to walk to her desk. She had no sooner reached her desk than she felt a sharp tap on the shoulder.

Angela turned and found herself staring into two very beautiful brown eyes.

"These are all the records from all the pay phone in the area," Danny said shortly. There was a loud thump on Angela's desk, and a stack of papers nearly four inches high now sat. "And this—" Danny handed her a thick list of more numbers, "is a list of numbers that Roger Stein was most likely to call. You'll have to cross reference them to figure out which phone he was using."

Without another word, Danny turned, grabbed his coat, and left with Martin, leaving Angela feeling very frustrated and very alone.

A/N: Hoorah! I'm writing again! Ok, actually, I've been writing this story for a period of about… a month. I wrote about fourteen chapters in two days, and then had a major case of writer's block for three weeks. But it's all finished now, and I'm posting it. I really do adore this story. It makes me very, very happy. Now this story can get a wee bit confusing sometimes, so I'll help you out by letting you know what questions you should be thinking about. Basically now you should be wondering, "Hmm… Why does Angela want a desk job? What happened in May to her?" Haha. Ok, anyways review! It makes me very happy. Thank you so much for reading.

-Laura