When he first saw her he thought of how childish she looked. He saw her files, and he knew she was twenty seven and an Imperial War Academy graduate, but still… She was unlike Motoko in any respect. She was slim and not very tall. She wore her long, brown hair loose and never had any make-up. She dressed more like a girl from college, than anything else. And, what for some strange reason he remembered best, she wore a little silver cross.

''A kid playing soldier'' he thought, and everyone in Section 9, with a small exception of the Chief, was probably thinking the very same thing. And when the newbie left the room after some introductions, everyone was close to saying the same; chief, you are out of your mind!

''Chief, for pity's sake, she's just a kid'' said Batou, looking at her file ''Twenty seven! She's fresh from the Academy..''

''Actually, she is not'' Motoko looked a bit surprised ''For three years she served in Africa, in the International Peace Corps.''

''And she did very well there. Don't let her looks and low cyber implants percentage fool you.'' Replied the Chief.

''Low? She's like Togusa in that respect."

"As if that was something bad!" Togusa felt a sudden sympathy for the newcomer.

" And look at her training!'' Batou was unimpressed. ''A negotiator!? Great, if we want to tell the bad guys that we are coming. And greet them with flowers.''

''That is the last thing I was thinking about when I picked her out'' Aramaki smiled ''She was third in her year.''

''Why didn't we get the first, or the second than?''

''You'll find out'' said the Chief, grinning.

''Chief…'' Motoko shook her head. "We want to know if we can allow ourselves to trust her abilities."

''Do you know why she was third?'' asked Aramaki. No one said anything, so he continued.

''She could be first, I think. Great shooting skills, and did well in hand-to-hand combat. In Africa she negotiated with rebels to free hostages, and succeeded. But she preferred to be the third, instead of being a brown nose, unlike the first two students. That was the first and the last thing I wanted to know about her,''

'' Great. So, does this walking perfection have a name?'' groaned Batou ironically, but the Chief's arguments begun to make him look differently at the newbie.

''Yes. Morgan. Hana Morgan''

''You meant 'Hannah'.''

"No, I meant what I said."

"She's half-Japanese. Her mother is from here", Ishikawa looked at the rookie's family history.

"Oh, God, what kind of an idiot would give his kid a flower name?"

"I bet her mother not once thought that her daughter would end up with us. A pretty face…" Pazu looked at Hana's photo. "I bet she wanted her to be a good little wife to some wealthy man."

"And the girl ended up here, poor thing. Make her feel at home, Paz" Motoko rolled her eyes.

"That is tempting…"

"She's a soldier whom will be covering your ass later, and it will be better if you would not forget that. Personally, I'd hate to have an ex-girlfriend with a Seburo behind my back."

"Well, maybe Paz is suicidal" Saito looked through the glass door to see the newbie. With a chocolate bar in her mouth, she was trying to force one of the dispenser machines to spit up her change. When it didn't, she gave it an angry kick, as everyone here when it jams. Saito noticed her shoes now – boots rather. Heavy, military shoes with metal toes. Worn and frayed. Like his own, actually.

"Well' she's sure learning fast" he said, smiling. Perhaps there was some hope for her after all.

For the next few days Hana had her training along with the Section, 'to know your new friends better'. She also received a code number, 0909, and Batou said she'll be the Sections mascot. He called Maneki Neko. She swallowed the offense from him, but then Paz called her like that during martial arts training. She was great with Tai kick-boxing, and she was enthusiastic to use it on the man. She was very disappointed to find out that Paz was a cyborg. They all thought she would run to the Chief screaming for help, but surprisingly she didn't. Even though she had no chance with cyborgs like Batou or Paz, she stood her ground. After some initial success, she got beaten again and again. She was getting tired, the cyborgs were not and Togusa finally called it a day. Hana quietly left the room, with not even one word of complaint.

"Man, what are you trying to do?" Togusa shrugged "Kill her and free us of the burden?"

"Don't be such a sissy, Togusa."

"Oh, if not trying to break her arm means that I'm a sissy, than great! I am one."

"We were just trying out her abilities. Not bad for a hatchling."

"You two are impossible."

"We just like our job…" shrugged Batou, and Togusa sighed, hoping that the 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger' saying will be true for Hana.

Hana angrily threw her training clothes into her cabinet and sat on a bench, with a towel on her head. She was beaten few times in a row, and this was a blow to her pride as a soldier. Of course she knew that both men were cyborgs, and that she could do little to them, but still… Getting her butt kicked was humiliating. When she was trying to cool herself down someone came in.

"Hey, Neko" it was Paz. She groaned something like 'Hi', and ignored him further on. That was enough to trigger his curiosity. Usually women liked him.

"Mad at us?"

"No…" she mumbled, and it was an obvious lie.

"You are pretty when you are like that, anyone told you so?" he tried.

"And anyone told you, that you're an ass-hole?"

"Oh, harsh language already? I'm trying to be nice." He tried to look offended, but she didn't look impressed or moved by it.

"Ten minutes ago you almost dislocated my shoulder," she stood up, putting on her navy button-up shirt. "And that flirting line is just lame…" She said, smiling and walking out just before Paz was able to talk again. She hoped she scared him away, but she just got him interested.

Major stood nearby, watching the whole scene. The girl had guts, that was one thing she had to admit. She saw purple bruises on Hana's back and arms – the boys gave the newbie a hard time adjusting. But the Major also saw that the fact the she rookie did not run around complaining and whining won her some sympathy. She may even adjust after all.

Hana sipped come coffee, and suddenly felt a need to wash her teeth. Whatever this was, it wasn't coffee. Tar, maybe. But not coffee. It was ten o'clock in the morning, her kidneys were already killing her. Not literally maybe, but she sure got her share of bruises today. She got up at five to get here on time and needed something to stop her eyes from closing. She threw the cup in the bin, and sighted. She lay on the couch, trying to remain conscious. She was tired and beaten, and had quite enough of this place already. Suddenly the door opened, and someone came in. She looked back and saw the Section's sniper came in. He was a grave, quiet man, and somewhat scary with his hawk-eye, but she has seen him shoot. She thought she saw a good sniper once, but this guy was… Awesome, was the least she could think of. That immediately earned him her respect, especially since he didn't beat her as much as the two cyborgs did.

Saito didn't see her at first, but when he did notice, he had to admit she looked like… Well, crap. She looked really tired, and her hair was a wet mess, as if she came right from the shower and didn't have the strength to brush them properly.

"Early bird, aren't you" he said, sitting opposite. She gave him a weary look. He hadn't notice it before, but she had hazel eyes.

"Couldn't sleep. Time zones are killing me" she said honesty. She didn't get used to them just yet, and apart from that she was beaten to a pulp.

"I'll buy you a coffee."

"Sure, if you want it thrown back at you…"

"Oh, I see you've tried it already."

"Where do you get that stuff anyway? Oil shafts?"

'Nah, Chief is just stingy when it comes to supplies. Come, instead I'll take you to Section 9's secret caffeine heaven" he stood up, but she was looking at him with distrust in her hazel eyes. "Something's wrong?"

"Twenty minutes ago the other two showed me my place here. You are nice to me. That's a bit under the cloud."

"I see… You think that we are going to make some pranks. Put you under a trial."

"And aren't you?" she asked, and Saito smiled.

"Personally, I'm too old for that. But you can expect that from Batou."

"So, no salt in my coffee? Or rubber snakes in my cabinet?"

"Not from me at least."

"Fine for me…" she yawned, thinking that she actually didn't care about anything that anyone could do to her, if that would give her a chance for caffeine.

Section 9's heaven was in fact a small coffee shop. The owner greeted Saito with a smile and a wave of his chubby arm.

"The regular order?" he asked.

"And the biggest… What will it be?" Saito turned to Hana.

"Latte."

"And a latte, the biggest you have." They sat in a corner. After a minute Hana realized that this particular table was not just randomly chosen – it was the best place if one wanted to observe the whole coffee shop, without being too much see himself. For some reason she was not surprised that the sniper chose this place from any other in the café.

"Nice little lady" the owner said, when Saito was paying for his order, "Never saw you with a girl before, except for that weird purple-haired cyborg."

"The purple weirdo is my boss. The brunette is my new colleague" Saito shook his head. The owner had been running this shop for twenty years now, and Saito and the rest of the Section were regular customers for almost a decade. He never asked about their job and Saito liked the chap, but he was nosy at the same time, always asking them about their personal lives and gossiping. He was the only one to know the names of all Paz's girlfriends, apart maybe from Paz himself.

"Too bad, she's pretty."

"And almost ten years younger."

"Perhaps she likes that."

"And maybe pigs fly. She's not my type, anyway." Saito was trying to cut the conversation short, but the owner just laughed.

"And I'm a schoolgirl." He said, which was obviously a way to show what did he think about what the sniper said. The owner was a stout elderly man, with whiskers reminding Saito of oakum.

"Hello, Lucy" the sniper groaned "Geez, I'm buying her a coffee, not proposing. "

"Then perhaps I'll get a chance."

"Good luck…" Saito took the order and placed the paper cup in front of Hana. She looked as if she dozed off, but when he sat down she opened her eyes and smiled faintly.

"Thanks…"

"The owner wants to propose to you." Saito said, with a perfect poker face. Hana almost choked with her latte.

"Tell me you are kidding."

"I am."

"Good. I won't have to shoot anyone." She sipped her coffee slowly, since it was still hot.

"You have a boyfriend than?" not that he cared, he was just curious.

"I broke up with the last one three months ago, and I'm sick of men who are trying to make a good housewife out of me. As if I liked to wash their socks and make breakfast."

"You'll be much too busy for anything like that anyway" Saito could not imagine her doing house chores.

"Sorry if I sound cranky" she sighed, relaxing. "I didn't know what to expect here. You guys have been working with each other for years, and I'm new. In my wildest dreams I didn't imagine that anyone would take for out during my first week here."

"Batou and Paz have given you a hard time already. I don't feel like joining, because I actually remember I was a rookie once too."

"I'm glad to hear that not everyone thinks I'm useless here…" she said, toying with the little silver cross she had on a chain. Saito reached out and held it – it looked ridiculously small in his firm hand.

"Nice."

"It belonged to my grandmother. It's almost two hundred years old."

"A good luck charm?"

"Maggie… I mean my grand mom… was devastated when I went to Africa. Not that she was against female soldiers. She was scared that I might be killed – that was her only concern. She gave me that, because she believes that it will protect me."

"And did it?" Saito's question sounded ironically, but he never believed luck, just skills and talent. And probability of something happening, but not luck.

"So far I got shot only once" she smiled, and Saito hid his surprise. He never though she was in real combat at all, not mentioning being shot. He was about to say something, but suddenly they heard the Major's voice on the comlink.

"Get your tails up here. Something's up!"

"Trouble?" asked Hana, finishing her coffee and standing up.

"It's always trouble when they are calling for us…" replied the sniper, standing up and rushing towards she door.