(So, I have been playing The Division religiously since it came out and I love it! It also got me thinking of a possible back story for my agent and what they were doing before being activated. WARNING: This does contain some language and may have stuff involving blood, so don't read if that is not your cup of tea!)
"Activation"
"Just face it Janie, she's not coming back!" the boy yelled down at his little sister.
"Yes she will, stop it!" the girl cried, tears forming in her eyes.
The two children stood in a living room that had been turned upside down. Dishes had piled up due to no running water in the building and trash littered the floor. The boy stood there in silence as the girl began to cry. He glanced over at the door, hoping who he referred to would walk in.
"Why would she come back, anyway?" the boy sulked with crossed arms, his lower lip quivering. "She's been gone longer than she said she would."
000
"I don't think you heard me...I said give me everything you own or I put a bullet in your head."
The man before her had her at gunpoint. She braved the cold and infection to hopefully find food or anything she could get her hands on. Biting her lip she reluctantly put the backpack on the ground, her hands raised in a passive manner as she began to back away.
Great. She thought. Now this guy is gonna get pissed because he doesn't know I hid everything in the car on the corner.
Emilia Brant. That's the name her parents so graciously bestowed upon her when she was born. When she told them she wanted to attend a culinary college here in New York, she knew she gave them a reason to grow more gray hair. Being from a small town in the South, she always turned heads while she was here in the city. Mostly due to her accent. Then the "dollar flu" as the news called it, hit...and she was stuck in a city full of illness, crime and lawlessness.
The man grinned as he rummaged through the pack, which then turned to a frustrated frown.
"Sorry, but I haven't found anything of value." Emilia told him.
The man looks her up and down.
"Give me your watch." he orders.
With a nod, she brings her right hand to her left and looking down, a orange circle glowed within the watch strapped on it.
"Finally!" she exclaims out loud.
Putting her hands back down to her side, the man pulls the pistol back toward her.
"I said give me your watch!" he yells again.
Before he could even fire, she swiftly grabs the hand that held the pistol and twists it back.
With a well heard crack that echoes off the walls of the buildings, the pistol fires, falling to the ground as the man cries in pain holding his wrist.
"You bitch! You'll pay for that!" he yells, scrambling to pick the gun back up.
She responds by spinning her leg around for a roundhouse kick to the man's side, followed by a hard punch to his face.
The man falls flat on his butt, holding his side. Emilia picks up the pistol and aims it towards him, firing a a bullet into his head.
As the blood pooled, Emilia picked up her backpack and hid the gun inside. She grimaced as she now felt a burning sensation on her left arm. Looking over, she gathered that the bullet fired when she disarmed the thug had grazed her arm.
Taking a few deep breaths, she held her shaking hands together and ran down an alley toward another street.
000
"No...oh God, please no!" Emilia yelled as she stood near the apartment complex.
Bodies lay in the snow, blood puddling around them
Rushing up the stairs inside the small apartment complex, Emilia made her way to her home. Her jaw could have hit the floor as she found the front door kicked in and a trail of crimson exiting the home.
Dropping her pack to the ground, she rushed inside, only to let out a cry of shock and agony at the sight before her.
The room was a complete wreck, more than usual, and a puddle of blood lay in the middle of the room.
"Jonah?!" she called frantically. "Janie?!"
There came the sound of a door opening and the patter of tiny feet against wooden floor. The two small children ran into her open arms and began to cry.
"We were so scared!" Jonah cried.
The little girl just continued to cry into Emilia's chest, holding her tight like she would disappear.
"What happened?" Emilia asked, trying so hard to stay calm for the two of them.
"A scary man heard Janie crying and kicked the door open. We both screamed and he started to take our stuff. Janie started crying even more and he came up and hit her, telling her to be quiet. I ran for the bedroom and grabbed the gun and-and..." the boy couldn't finish, instead bursting into tears.
Emilia rubbed circles into his back and soothed the crying children.
"Shh...it's okay. You were very brave, Jonah. You protected your sister and I'm so proud of you."
"The man told us to hide in the closet." Janie said mid sniffle.
"Man?" Emilia questioned.
Jonah nodded. "After I shot the bad guy, another man came in with a gun too. But he was a nice man and told us to find somewhere to hide and that he'd be right back. So we hid in the closet."
"There were a lot of popping noises outside." Janie added.
Emilia stood up and sighed in both relief and frustration. "I hope I find that man some day so I can thank him." she kneels back down and gives a reassuring smile.
"Okay, I need you both to get what's really important to you and put it into your backpacks. We're moving again."
With a nod, both children scurry off to different parts of the apartment.
Emilia walks back out into the hall and grabs her backpack. Then she heads over to a door she has waited to unlock for a very long time. With a quick turn of a key, she opens it. Inside she grabs an earpiece from a desk, some medical kits and a leather wallet with an abnormal ID inside.
A brown bomber jacket lined with fur on the hood rests on a hanger behind the door. Etched into its right arm is an emblem resembling an eagle in an orange, white and black design.
She also grabs a pistol holster and wraps it around her right thigh, pulling the pistol from her backpack and places it inside.
Taking the earpiece, she puts it in her ear and holds it down with a finger.
"Identification number: two forty-six. Agent Emilia Brant, reporting in for activation."
A few moments of static and then a voice responds.
"Copy, agent. You are clear to report to your local safe house for debriefing, over."
"Copy, agent Brant out."
Turning around she meets the faces of Jonah and Janie who look at her with bloodshot eyes and worried expressions.
"Don't worry...everything will be fine. Do you have everything?" she asks.
Jonah nods as he holds a soccer ball under his arm. Janie walks up to Emilia with a weak smile.
"I got mommy and daddy off the refrigerator." she explains, holding it up for Emilia to see.
"That's good. We wouldn't want to leave them behind now would we?"
Janie shakes her head as she holds the photo close to her chest. As the conversation ends, the two children look around the room with worry. The door was always locked for them, yet Emilia never went into the room until today.
Emilia paced about the room, picking things up and talked into her earpiece every now and then. Janie could only stare at the gun sitting against her hip, while Jonah seemed to have a bit of an admiring twinkle in his eye.
"I repeat, I have two civilian children in my care, over."
"Copy, agent. We'll have personnel on standby, keep them safe."
With two hands on her hips and a long, drawn out sigh, Emilia looks to the two staring children and smiles.
"Well, let's get going. We have a bit of a walk ahead of us and I need to make sure we get there safely."
Janie walks up to her and grabs a fistful of Emilia's shirt, looking up at her with a sort of puppy dog expression.
"Will we be okay, Emi?" she asks.
Emilia smiles weakly and puts a hand on Janie's head.
"You bet, kiddo. You and your brother will be just fine..." she stops a moment and eyes the picture in the girl's small hands. "I did promise your parents I'd take care of you."
There was a bit of silence which was interrupted by a scoff from Jonah.
"You're gonna leave us, aren't you?" he asked a bit coldly, tightly wrapping his arms around his soccer ball.
"Jonah..."
Emilia couldn't answer him. How could she even answer such a question when she knew that whatever she told him, he would just deny. Jonah was a smart kid...and Emilia knew better than to lie in front of him.
"I'm sorry..." she responds. "Believe me, if I had the option, I would turn this new job down."
"Then why don't you?!" Jonah yelled. "You promised our mom and dad that you'd take care of us! Why are you going to leave us behind?!"
Emilia was taken aback by this sudden outburst.
"Jonah, I don't have a choice!" she snaps back, making Janie flinch.
Emilia sighs, grabbing the back of Jonah's head and pulling both him and his sister close.
"I know this is a lot to take in, you two, and I'm sorry. But I was assigned to this job long before I made the promise to your parents."
"You...have?" Jonah asked a bit shakily.
Emilia nods. "Yeah...but believe me when I say this. There will be a lot of people at this place we're going to. And these people will do everything in their power to keep you safe. Also, I am just a call away. So if I'm not busy doing busy things, you can call me at any time."
"Promise?" Janie asked with puppy dog eyes.
Emilia nods as tears began to form in her eyes. "Promise." she stands up, wiping her eyes and puts her backpack on.
"Alright you two, let's get going."
With one last check around the house, Emilia and the children walk down the stairs to the first floor. Janie and Jonah stood outside while Emilia stood within the doorway.
Looking back for but a moment at the place they temporarily called home, Emilia grabs the handle and with one last sigh, she pulls the door shut.
(And there you have it! This is how I imagine my agent being activated. A promise kept on her part to keep these two children safe. I imagine they were neighbors and the children grew fond of her enough to babysit occasionally when the parents went out. I don't plan on making an actual series with this, but maybe more one-shots in the future? Let me know what you guys think! ^.^ Hope you liked it!)