I've been working on this story for over a year and it seems that every version I create isn't quite what I'm wanting. I know that this isn't as long as my previous versions, for those of you who are familiar, but I figured that I'd post this and just run with it. I'm sorry if anything seems really stupid or very Mary-Sue, I'm looking for a beta and it seems that everyone doesn't have the time. If your interested I need a beta! Either way, this is my first fic, so please be honest with me if you review, but don't flame for flaming's sake.
So here it goes!
Chapter One: Long Time No See
Rick watched as Billy trailed off, attention caught by something across the office. He was enjoying (trying to at least) a cup of coffee (it seems that it grew on him) in the break room, listening to Billy try to explain the (elusive) technique behind tailing someone. Billy was staring at a woman in surprise.
She was wearing a simple black pants suit with a grey colored vest over a white blouse. Black heels made her look much taller than her (probable/estimated/approximate) five foot three (four? two?) inch stature. Brown hair illuminated with copper tones as she passed by a window despite it being pulled back into a tight bun. Green eyes danced along with the hop in her step, contradicting her appearance with an airy nature.
"Keira?" Billy asked with a smile, moving to greet the woman. Rick followed a moment later.
The woman looked at Billy as if she hadn't noticed him a moment before, her airy nature flashed into attention before it flowed back into a happy demeanor. She lifted a hand to pull a small ear bud from her ear. "Billy!" The smile she gave took Rick back for a moment.
"Keira, my sun and stars, what heart you have to grace your dazzling beauty upon the office. I feel so blessed." Billy gave her a Charming smile (Rick had noticed that Billy was a man equipped with many smiles).
"I'm not sure if you are alluding to the fact that I look like a sexy man who is the leader of a bunch of horse people or that I'm lazy and hate dressing up for the office, but I'll let it pass because it's been a while," she replied with an easy smile.
Billy feigned a hurt look, bringing his hand to his chest putting on an Only Acting Like I'm Hurt smile. "I'm wounded that you would even think I would do such a thing. To even imply that I could dare such a thing makes my heart quiver."
The woman chuckled lightly. "Fancy words are fancy words, Mr. Collins," she replied in an exaggerated imperious tone.
Billy dropped the charade with a Normal-Nice smile. "Have you seen the others yet?" he asked.
"I saw Casey a few nights ago at the gym. Today's my first day back," she replied in a bashful tone a mischievous grin creeping on her face. "I was on my way to meet with Higgins, actually. I planned on surprising you after." She then turned to Rick. "Is this the Tobey Maguire Doris has been dotting on?"
Rick couldn't help the blush that ran up his neck.
"This is the small lad," Billy proclaimed (declared/exclaimed) placing a hand on his shoulder, "who has stolen my dear Doris away from me."
"Hello Tobey, I'm Keira Keegan, pleasure to meet your acquaintance," sparkling eyes grinned at him as she struck out a hand.
"Rick, actually," he corrected as he grasped her hand.
She gave him a serious look that seemed a bit too serious to be real. "Right I understand, we're at the CIA, our covers are vital. My name is not Keira then, it's actually Victoria Winters and Johnny Depp is a vampire who loves me with all his heart because I'm a reincarnation of his past lover slash bride to be. You have nothing to worry about Rick," she gave him an exaggerated wink, making him feel exasperated at her obvious teasing (mocking/toying/playing).
"Young Rick is Young Rick, and Young Rick tends to be Serious Rick more often than he's Young Rick, so I guess you could say he's actually Serious Rick, but saying he's Serious Rick makes him more Flustered Rick and Flustered Rick is every bit of Young Rick and Serious Rick as he is New Guy Rick," Billy explained, loosing Rick (Real Rick) along the way.
"Ahh, so he really is a Tobey," Keira determined, looking as of she understood.
"Only some of the time," Billy replied.
"When am I going to stop being the new guy?" Rick blurted out, feeling embarrassed a moment later.
Keira gave him a serious look that looked very real. "When you're able to tell Billy the answer to two plus two, Tobey," she stated, glancing down at a watch on her wrist. "I think I've dwadled enough, any more and I'll have ruined my perfectly laid strings of façade." She gave them a parting smile and strode away with a wave, heading towards the elevator that would carry her to Higgins's office. Rick was beginning to wonder if everyone who knew the ODS was a bit touched (crazy/nuts/clinically insane). He corrected himself a moment later, taking into account that Fey seemed normal enough (or was it just a façade?) not everyone who knew them could be touched (mad/idiotic/senseless).
Billy waved to her and picked up his abandoned cup of coffee. Rick stood there in the hallway for a moment to contain the frustrated comments that sprung to mind at his indifference. "Who was that," he asked first, walking quickly to catch up to a jolly (happy/excited/cheerful) looking Billy.
"That was Keira Keegan, her real name," Billy replied happily.
Rick resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "What does she do?" he asked again.
Billy glanced at him before answering. "She's an operative like us," he replied, keeping his I'm Friendly smile on his face.
"Was she on leave?" Rick asked a moment later, once his exasperation was contained once again, thinking back on the remark she made earlier.
"More of a forced vacation," Billy conceded, taking a sip of his coffee. Rick gave him a questioning (inquisitive/curious) look, not really sure how to ask the question for the answer he wanted without being too blunt. Billy relented with a Knowing smile. "They couldn't get her to retire. Long story short, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
Rick gave him a confused look, chalking it up to Billy's usual vagueness and choosing not to dwell on it as he opened the door to their office.
"Keira's back," Billy reported in a jolly voice, dumping his empty cup into the small trash can by the door.
Casey barely spared them a glance, finding his book on Inner Focus more interesting. "I saw her at the gym," he intoned.
Michael leaned back in his chair, eye brows raised in curiosity. "Interesting," he stated, the gears in his head obviously turning and churning. "She's coming over to say hello," he questioned more than stated.
Billy nodded his head as he walked over to his desk and inspected it carefully. "Yea, she said she was going to surprise us after reporting in with Higgins."
Rick was surprised to see Michael start searching his desk. Casey on the other hand pulled out a small bottle of blue dye from his desk drawer and placed it on his desk. "What is that?" Rick asked, as he approached Casey's desk.
Casey shot the other two a glance before looking at Rick. "Keira likes to play childish pranks around the office. If I were you I would search your desk for something that would stain your clothes, face or other bodily limbs."
Billy interrupted them with a triumphant shout, producing a similar bottle filled with black dye, Michael showed them a pink one. "I would look very carefully. Keira and Simms were in the middle of a war when she left," Michael advised, as he went back to his computer.
"When she left?" Rick asked as he approached his desk warily.
"I think she knows Simms is gone. She knew about Rick at least," Billy said, sitting down at his desk.
"Did she mention Simms the other night?" Michael asked Casey, who turned a page of his book.
"She was a bit preoccupied," he replied instead, not looking up from his book.
At Billy's barking laugh and Michael's chuckle, Rick glanced up from behind his chair. "What?" he asked.
"Keira does not take kindly to unwanted advances from men," Billy chuckled.
"Oh," Rick replied as he went to his knees and continued to search his desk.
He was still searching when there was a knock on the door.
Knock slap knock slap knock knock slap knock… slap knock slap slap knock knock knock knock… slap knock slap slap slap…
Rick looked at the door in confusion, about to call out to enter, but Billy called out, "Friend or foe."
"Lemon drops," replied the voice.
"Come in," Michael replied, looking over his nose as he looked up from a fiction book.
Keira bounded in with a smile on her face. "You spoiled the surprise," she scowled at Billy, noticing the three bottles standing proudly at the edges of their desks. A glance at Rick brought the missing smile back. "Are you having a bit of trouble, Tobey?" she asked, not fazed by the scowl that he shot her.
"It's Rick," he replied, going back to his inspection.
"Should I help him out," she asked, looking to Michael who nodded after a moment's consideration.
She walked over and bent down, rolling over on her back a moment later, knife suddenly in hand. Billy whistled at the sight. Rick watched as she began to feel around the edge of the inner lip, pulling back black tubing. Her delicate looking hands worked quickly, carefully pulled out more tubing that eventually ran into one of the legs. "I made this after the second comment Simms made about PMS and my choice in underwear," she explained, as she used her knife to wiggle out a false edge revealing a small pulley system (machine/contraption/thing-a-mah-jig) with small weights attached. Keira's hands were steady as she worked to untwine the carefully laid trap.
"How long ago did you set this?" he asked eventually (cautiously/slowly/warily).
"Oh I don't know, I rigged it so that when he moved his monitor next he'd spray his crotch with red dye," she gave Rick a cheerful smile as she sat up, barely missing the underside of the desk by a hair's breath.
"So who are you going to get stuck with?" Michael asked once she was standing.
"Well… he's not really sure Phyllis is willing to take me because of Howards and their relationship, and everyone else has the opinion that if I lasted that long with Jake and actually got along with him, then there must be something seriously messed up with me," she said with a sigh. "He's informed me of the possibility that I may be going into deep cover over seas, but he seems to be very reluctant to do that."
Rick glanced at the others, seeing that they were familiar with the names she mentioned, however they didn't clarify when he sat down, giving them questioning (curious/hopeful/probing) glances.
"So enough about me, what's been going on with you guys?" she asked suddenly, changing the topic.
"Nothing much really, it's just been the same as it's always been," Billy replied with a shrug.
"Saving damsels in distress and knights in aluminum foil?" she said with a questioning (interested) tone, looking towards Michael.
"Every other week or so," he replied, leaning forward on his desk. "So how is everyone?"
Keira gave him a bright smile. "Oh Michael, if you want to see how they're doing you should come to the reunion. I heard that Higgins was going to try to send someone in to spy on us again." Her smile turned a bit more mocking and self-satisfied.
"I don't think we have time," Michael began.
"No you have to come, all of you, even you Tobey. Yai Yai will be so pleased, she might even bring coffee cake!" she hopped off of Rick's desk with a delighted smile. "It's next Friday at the Hill. Come early."
She didn't even give them time to refuse as she bounded (hopped/skipped/bounded away) out of their office, leaving Rick more confused (but slightly pleased that he was included) than he was to begin with. "What just happened?" he asked.
"We've just been invited to the annual Keegan family reunion. A very high honor considering," Billy explained playing with a pencil at his desk.
"Considering?" he asked once more.
"Considering that she's only just met you," Michael explained, going back to his book.
"Keira's always been a friendly person," Billy remarked. "It's no wonder he's invited."
"That doesn't mean she doesn't have an ulterior motive," Casey stated. "If I were you, I would bring a knife and leave your cell phone at home."
"If I'm bringing a knife, why wouldn't I just bring my gun," Rick asked. "And why can't I bring my cell phone?"
"Do not bring your gun," Michael interrupted with a stern look. "It is a bad idea plain and simple. In regards to the no cell phone… well the official reason is that cell phones bring work and there is no working during the reunion."
"And the unofficial?"
"Her nephew is a technological genius that will hack it the moment he gets his hands on it," Casey replied blandly (dully/monotonously/dryly).
Rick sat there a moment, wondering if he would ever meet a normal (sane/average/regular) person again. "Why would Higgins send someone to infiltrate their family reunion?" he asked suddenly.
He almost blushed at the three piercing looks. "Because Young Rick," Billy began. "The Keegans are an old family full of connections and she never invites him."
Rick caught his mouth before it could drop. "Because he's never been invited? That's it?" he asked incredulously.
"No of course not, you'll just have to figure it out on your own," Michael commented.
Rick squished the urge to scowl. He was a spy, he needed to learn these things. He wasn't always going to be handed things on a golden platter…
When next Friday rolled around, Rick was awakened by the sound of his phone ringing and the jolly voice of Billy informing him that they'd be there in fifteen minutes and to dress formal casual.