The sun was intense, making the day almost unbearable however the shade from the café umbrella and the light breeze reduced its glare. Charlotte was waiting for her best friend Lizzy. It was her first time in New York and she'd chosen a cute little coffee shop just opposite her hotel so she didn't have to negotiate the manic streets.

Lizzy had been living in New York for almost a year now. Originally she had only intended to stay for a month but she met someone and ended up saying full time. If Charlotte was honest she couldn't blame her, she would have stayed too if he'd fallen for her.

Charlotte spotted Lizzy across the street and waved at her. She smiled and ran over to me. "Hi Charlotte, how are you finding New York?" she asked falling into the seat opposite her with her usual elegance. "Good thanks Lizzy but it would be better if I understood this bloody place." Charlotte replied smiling. Lizzy laughed slightly and smiled back at her. "You'll get the hang of it." she said hailing a waiter and ordering two hot chocolates, something the two of them use to always drink when they were teens back home.

"So how's life Hufflepuff?" Lizzy asked leaning forwards slightly in earnest. Charlotte sighed.

"Not exactly fabulous Liz, I broke up with my boyfriend a week ago because he cheated on me, the newspaper I was working for fired me for being too nice and I left the tap on in my apartment bathroom all day and now I have to pay for repairs." she said leaning back reflecting on her useless excuse for a life. "That sounds rough, Charlotte." Lizzy said taking a hot chocolate from the waiter and laughing. "You're kidding me." she said leaning back on her chair. Charlotte gave her a confused look not sure what she was 'kidding' about. "What?" Charlotte asked a confused look on her face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean you, I meant this place. It's where I first came when I arrived here in New York. It's where I met him." Lizzy said smiling to herself.

"Really?"

"Yeah, he was sat at the only table with a spare chair so I asked if I could share his table."

"I know, I know this bit. He said yes, you got talking, he offered to show you round town, you said yes and the rest is history." Charlotte replied. She'd heard this part of the story millions of times, how Lizzy met the men of her dreams so why hadn't it happened to her as well? Oh yeah that's right, because Lizzy is everything I'm not. Charlotte thought to herself.

It was at this point that Lizzy's phone rang. "Hello?" she said her voice light and happy. After a moment Lizzy's face went blank and all the colour drained from it. "He's back?" She asked the person on the phone with a hint of fear in her voice. The person on the other end seemed to confirm this and Lizzy pulled herself together. "OK, I'll be there in five." She replied her voice emotionless. "What the hell was that about?" Charlotte asked completely confused. Lizzy looked at me and took a deep breath. "Charlotte, I have to go. Go back to your hotel, I'll call you later." She said collecting up her bag and running off down the street.

Charlotte sat there for a moment unsure what to do, follow Lizzy's advice or follow her and find out what the hell was going on. However her journalism curiosity won out and Charlotte threw some money on the table and followed Lizzy. As Charlotte followed Lizzy down the street she saw her take something out pf her handbag and place it in her ear. They soon reached a police barrier with a large crowd and Charlotte lost Lizzy in the mass of people. Refusing to give up Charlotte pushed her way to the front of the crowd just in time to see Lizzy duck under the barrier. Charlotte went to follow but was stopped by a police officer. "What do you think you're doing miss?" he asked. Panicking Charlotte just pointed at Lizzy and said "I'm with her." The officer gave Charlotte a questionable look but nodded and let her through.

Charlotte had once again lost sight of Lizzy and now appeared to be in what looked like a war zone. There were cars on fire, men shooting at something clouded by smoke and great craters in the ground. She took a few more steps forward before she was thrown to grown by the force of car exploding just to the right of her. Everything went fuzzy and Charlotte's ears began to ring. Rolling onto her side to try and get some more air into her lungs saw someone running towards her. Slowly her hearing returned and vision cleared and Charlotte became aware that she was being dragged behind a flipped car. She tried to struggle from the person's grip but to no avail and she soon stopped. Now fully aware of herself Charlotte tried to get up to run away but the person grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" the person shouted at her. Recognising the voice Charlotte turned round to see Lizzy now dress in black holding a gun.

"What the hell Charlotte! I told you to go back to your hotel!" Lizzy shouted at her.

"I thought you were in trouble so I followed you." Charlotte replied sure as to what the hell was going on. "Why the hell! Why didn't you fucking listen to me?! Now I have to worry about you not getting killed as well!" Lizzy shouted back at her. Charlotte just looked at her. This wasn't the Lizzy she knew, the Lizzy she knew had a boring desk at some big commercial company, she didn't run around in war zones dressed in black with a gun. Lizzy put her figure to her ear. "Director I have female civilian caught in the cross fire in need to immediate extraction, unharmed." she said. Charlotte just looked at Lizzy unsure who she really was. Lizzy then looked at Charlotte. "There's an evac helicopter coming in two minutes, think you can do what I say for that long?" she asked sternly. Charlotte just nodded.

"Thomson, Johnson, to me." Lizzy shouted at two soldiers who then ran over "We have an evac coming for her in two we need to protect her till then." The soldiers nodded and assume battle positions. "Who is she Agent Violet?" one asked.

"A friend." Lizzy said "Jackson, Smith, Jones, William, clear an area we need a landing area." Four more soldiers moved into positions creating an area clear of fire to allow the helicopter to land. Lizzy then turned back to Thomson and Johnson. "We'll put her behind us and we'll run out when we hear the helicopter." Lizzy said to them. The men nodded and Charlotte was pushed behind them. After about a minute helicopter blades could be heard in the distance and they ran out. Lizzy shot off a flare to alert the helicopter where they were and after a few moments the helicopter was hovering above them.

Suddenly something came crashing through the smoke and Charlotte whipped her head round just in time to see it throw something at the helicopter causing it to explode in mid-air. Then everything went dark.