New story! I recommend reading Unhappy customer first as this is the sequel. As always, I hope you enjoy this one :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters

CIA facility, Solo's p.o.v.

Napoleon checked his watch, they were late. They passed the security controls and entered the building. Waverly was waiting for them in the main hall. He greeted them with his usual wide, warm smile.

"Miss Teller, gentlemen."

He checked his watch.

"You're late."

Napoleon exchanged a glance with his partners. Even though Waverly was still smiling pleasantly, they knew their boss well enough to detect the hint of annoyance in his affable tone. A security guard led them to the room where the meeting would be taking place. Waverly thanked the man and, instead of opening the door, he turned toward Napoleon.

"Oh and Solo, please try to tone down the snarky remarks this time.", he said with a small smile.

Napoleon opened his mouth to answer but Waverly was already turning back toward the door.

Yes Sir…

Before he followed Waverly inside the room, he glanced back at his partners and caught a glimpse of Illya's mocking half-smile.

Thanks for the support, Peril…

The room was a regular meeting room with tables arranged in a U-shape, and chairs which looked comfortable although Napoleon knew from experience that they actually weren't. At all. His former handler, Adrian Sanders greeted them curtly. Another man was standing in one corner of the room and nodded at them. Sanders invited them to sit down.

Of course…

Napoleon felt his lips curl up into a smile. He suspected that his former handler used those chairs on purpose to torture his "guests" during lengthy meetings. He watched as Gaby and Illya fell into the trap and sat down. Waverly chose to sit on the edge of one of the tables and Napoleon followed his example. Sanders shot him a stern look but said nothing.

"Well, Adrian, I think we're ready to start. I'll let you bring my…our agents up to speed."

Napoleon caught the brief look of annoyance in his former handler's eyes. Sanders hated to be told what to do, but he also knew not to underestimate Waverly. Seeing those two cooperate together was going to be interesting. Sanders started pacing as he addressed them.

"I think you all remember agent Asher Marshall? You had the pleasure of meeting him when you somehow managed to get involved in one of his undercover assignments several months ago."

"Believe me, it wasn't intentional, Sir…"

"Solo…"

Napoleon could hear the warning in Waverly's tone and did not insist. Gaby chose this moment to come to the rescue.

"We haven't heard from agent Marshall in about eight months. How is he doing?"

"Well that's something we would all like to know, Miss Teller. Marshall went missing while working on an assignment, it's been two weeks."

Napoleon frowned.

"Wait, wasn't Marshall shot in the leg during his last mission? I thought he was supposed to take it easy and not work in the field for a while."

"The doctors gave him the all clear a couple of months ago."

"And you sent him on an undercover mission so soon?"

"This is not summer camp, Solo! Marshall is a field agent, it's his job and he's good at it, as long as he can walk and fire a weapon, I don't see why I would refrain from using him. Besides, it was supposed to be a simple information gathering mission with no infiltration work involved."

"What type of information was he supposed to gather?", Illya asked.

Napoleon glanced at him and couldn't suppress a slight smile as he noticed how the big Russian kept trying to adjust his position in the extremely uncomfortable chair.

"Well I might be able to elaborate on that, Kuryakin. If Solo is done whining about the way I treat my agents…"

"Please go on, Adrian.", Waverly said placatingly.

Napoleon's gaze fell on Gaby, she looked tense and he knew it had nothing to do with her chair. She was worried about Marshall. He hadn't had occasion to meet the young agent face to face but apparently he was a nice guy. And in his opinion, anyone who had worked with Sanders for a prolonged period of time deserved a medal. He returned his attention to his former handler.

"…so, a few months ago, when we came across traces of suspicious financial transactions between somewhere in Devon, England, and some shady private company in America, we immediately wondered why such large sums of money were circulating between the two places and why the people involved were so intent on covering their tracks. Of course we started by investigating the American company but, despite our agents' best efforts, that trail rapidly went cold. The next logical step was to send someone to find out what was going on in Devon."

"So you sent Marshall."

"So I sent Marshall. The idea was to find elements that would allow us to resume the investigation in America. Like I said, it was a simple observation and information collecting assignment. Marshall's investigation led him to a small village in Dartmoor. During his first week there, Marshall reported back regularly. Although there wasn't much to report apart from the fact that most of the locals seemed to belong to some sort of secret society."

Napoleon raised an eyebrow.

"What, like a masonic organization?"

"Something of the kind, Solo. On a much smaller scale though, and apparently it is tied to some kind of peaceful nature worshipping cult. Marshall was a bit hazy on the details. Anyway, he described them as friendly but extremely secretive people. The following week I received another report from Marshall, he had been talking to some people from neighboring towns to gather information about this secret society. Nothing salient came out of it. Apparently no one knows much about the society and no one has had any reasons to complain about it. A few locals mentioned two cases of people disappearing in the area but those were isolated incidents and didn't seem connected to our investigation. Then in Marshall's final report, his discourse had changed. He suspected that some of the members of that secret society were not who they pretended to be and might be linked to our investigation. He concluded that he would need to infiltrate the society to learn more. Of course I granted him permission to do so. It was the breakthrough we'd been waiting for. Since then I've heard nothing from him."

"So you think that that secret society in Devon might in fact be a tiny branch of a larger international criminal organization?"

"That's what we suspect, Kuryakin. And Marshall's last report and sudden disappearance would tend to confirm those suspicions."

Gaby's p.o.v.

As Sanders stopped pacing and looked at them, Gaby shifted nervously in her uncomfortable chair.

What did you get yourself into, Asher?..

Then Solo asked the question on everyone's mind.

"So you want us to rescue Marshall? What makes you think he's still alive?"

"Nothing.", Sanders replied, resuming his pacing. "To be honest I would be extremely surprised if Marshall wasn't already dead. This is not meant to be a rescue mission, Solo. This is more about not letting the investigation die with agent Marshall."

Gaby felt her heart sink as she pictured Marshall's smiling face in her mind. She exchanged a glance with Illya.

"He could still be alive."

"Don't get me wrong, Kuryakin. If it does turn out to be a rescue mission then all the better. But your team's primary objective will be to infiltrate the secret society and find out what Marshall was on to before he disappeared."

Sanders turned to Waverly.

"Now, since you've kindly accepted to let me borrow Kuryakin and Miss Teller – not you, Solo, I own you, remember? – I decided to add another of my agents to the team to balance things out."

He nodded toward the corner of the room and the man who had been leaning against the wall walked up to them. He had been so quiet the whole time that Gaby had almost forgotten his presence.

"Agent Owen Blake, here, knows everything there is to know about the whole investigation and he has memorized the transcripts of Marshall's reports. He is also an expert in hand to hand combat and received medical training which might come in handy in case things get…complicated."

Gaby observed the man with renewed interest. He was tall, broad-shouldered, in his late thirties, reddish-blond hair, piercing blue eyes and a winning smile. Now that she was seeing him up close, Gaby couldn't shake the impression that she had seen him somewhere before. Sanders and Waverly exchanged a few more words while the four agents stood awkwardly, looking at one another.

"Well, if you don't have any more questions, I'll let you discuss the practical details of the mission with Waverly and get acquainted with your new team member.", Sanders declared before briskly heading for the door and leaving the room. Gaby wondered if The CIA handler actually had something urgent to attend to or if he was just in a hurry to get rid of them.

"Welcome to the team, agent Blake."

At the sound of Solo's voice, Gaby's gaze shifted back to the center of the room and she saw the two Americans shaking hands. Then the CIA agent turned toward her.

"Miss Teller, I think we've met once before."

As he uttered these words, she suddenly remembered why the man looked familiar.

"Yes, I remember you, from the hospital.", she said giving him a warm smile and shaking his extended hand.

He was the agent who had escorted her to Marshall's room when he had been recovering in the hospital.

"Poor Marshall. Such a good-natured guy, and an excellent field agent. I know there isn't much hope of him still being alive but I'll do whatever I can to help your team find out what happened to him and carry on his investigation."

Gaby could hear genuine concern in Blake's voice as he talked about Marshall; the two of them had probably been close colleagues, or even friends. She noticed that Illya was making no move to introduce himself. The CIA agent walked up to him and extended his right hand.

"I look forward to working with you, Kuryakin."

Illya seemed to hesitate. Then he nodded and shook Blake's hand, once.

"Don't take it personally, he's Russian.", Solo commented with a chuckle.

Gaby knew that Illya probably wasn't too happy about this new, forced addition to their team. But she wasn't too worried, he would get used to it, and it was only one mission.

And agent Blake seems like a nice guy…

"Very well. Now if you don't mind," Waverly said as he checked his watch, "I suggest we move on to the practical details as we don't have much time. You all still need to pack and you're leaving in six hours."

Gaby saw Waverly's smile grow wider as he caught Illya's surprised facial expression.

"Don't worry, Kuryakin, you'll love the moor at this time of the year. It will suit your…contemplative personality."

Hotel room, Blake's p.o.v.

Owen Blake let out a tired sigh and sat down on the bed of his hotel room. He removed his shoulder holster, loosened his tie and pulled it off. Then he took off his shirt. He still had a couple of hours ahead of him. Enough to pack and take a shower. He replayed the events of the day in his mind as he absentmindedly scratched a small scar on his arm. Meeting his foster team had been interesting. Solo had been welcoming enough. Gaby Teller was charming. Kuryakin, however, had seemed reluctant to say the least. He wasn't too concerned about it though. He would find a way to make the Russian warm up to him. He got up, pulled an old suitcase out of the closet and set it down on the bed. As he started packing, his thoughts drifted to the mission and to Marshall. He smiled as he felt his pulse quicken in anticipation. He hoped that everything would go smoothly with his new teammates. He was determined to carry out his assignment successfully. And he really hoped that Marshall was still alive.

End of chapter 1.

Let me know what you think :)