Summary: The life of a CIA operative is not easy. It is not full of glitz and glam. It consists of hard work, small paychecks, and a constant fight to live. Adjusting to this life is hard for everyone and when you add being 18 on top of a new and demanding job you've got trouble. Add in crazy friends, confusing guys, foreign countries, creepy people and you've got chaos. Or the life of the CIA's newest recruits.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that comes from the Gallagher Girl books.
Covert Operations—Military or political activities that are not only clandestine (undertaken in a manner that disguises the identity of the perpetrators) but also covert, i.e. denied by the governments that undertake them.
Cameron Morgan started training to become a CIA agent the day she was born, technically training since she was twelve. Because she attended the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women she didn't have to go through a year of training at the farm as the applicants picked up after college did. The CIA is in constant need for new faces and having teens that they can hire as soon as they turn eighteen is essential for intelligence gathering; usually when a thirty-year-old guy in a suit won't blend in. However, adjusting to the CIA is never easy and everyone has to go through something of a transition period, which of course, explains all the trouble Cammie and her friends had.
Despite being an official CIA worker at eighteen she was still a teenager who was trying to figure out her love-life, hang out with friends, go to bars, stay in shape, learn as much as she could without slaving over books, attempting to live on her own, handling the stress of bills while on a government paycheck (during a recession no less), and occasionally having to kill people while barely escaping with her own life. This type of life takes a toll on everyone but if it's done right you can have just the right amount of drama, fun, adventure, love, and enemies to make it all worth it. But these people aren't normal and figuring out how to have a normal life when you are anything but is a challenge that won't go uncontested.
Langley, the CIA headquarters, is far from covert. Everyone knows what it is and everyone has seen a picture at one point or another, but what goes on inside continues to be speculated. Perhaps no one will know unless they work there, are very high up in the government, or are archeologists looking back at America's civilization a few million years from now. However, the CIA is constantly acquiring new operatives, new assets, and new enemies. In this particular case, they acquired four very distinguished operatives: One a pavement artist who could talk you in circles, hold her own in a fight, and had a knack for getting into trouble.
The second was a field operative who loved being in the thick of the action, took risks and made good use of them, and was confident enough to go with her instincts and get what she wanted. The third was an computer genius who could break nearly any encryption, didn't mind being in the thick of danger, and was willing to risk anything in order to help her friends, colleagues, or just to give herself a new challenge.
The fourth was a well-known face in America though it had not been on the front of magazines for a few months. She was a headstrong girl who could be a bitch but refused to take anyone's bull, had many connections to powerful people, was a whiz with disguises, and didn't mind pissing people off if it meant getting what she wanted.
Four very different operatives who had very similar dreams and a friendship that had been tested with danger before but was about to be tested with real life.
Their careers started only a few months after they graduated the Gallagher Academy of Exceptional Young Women. Being only eighteen they were all expecting a warm welcome into the business of Covert Operations and were surprised by the greeting they got.
A lady with dark, shiny black hair walked up to the four of them and shook their hands. A man who looked to be around thirty was right beside her.
"I'm Abigail and I will be getting you all settled today with the help of Jay here," she said, gesturing to the man with dirty blonde hair.
"I would give you a tour but this isn't the White House so keep up and remember what I tell you," Abigail said tuning on her heel to head up the stone steps. The four girls followed with their boxes of stuff they had brought to decorate their desks and offices.
"Langley is where you will be spending most of your time when you are not on a mission and the reality of it is, especially in the beginning, your missions will last overnight at most. Here, you will come in every morning ready to train in the gym. We have state of the art equipment and you will have periodic sparring matches with each other and, occasionally, with some of our prisoners if only to learn how some of the other countries fight; that includes our computer managers, Miss Sutton, for while you were not recruited for you physical abilities it is important that you are able to defend yourself if you are ever cornered. Don't be late for things, time is of the essence here, and don't try to feed anyone bull crap because they will be able to tell.
"Here at Langley employees are held to the highest standards and while mistakes happen they are not tolerated very well so don't screw up. The most important thing for you all to remember is that everything that happens in this building stays in this building. The people you meet, the things you hear, is all top secret and should be treated as such. Any leaks that happen will be dealt with as quickly and as quietly as they can be. Do as you're told, expect the unexpected, prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and follow protocol unless your only option is to completely buck the system in which case you can't do it half-heartedly because you will wind up dead," there Abigail stopped and turned to face the girls again.
"These are you desks," she said indicating three empty ones in a room full of cubicles. "At least for right now. Elizabeth,"
"Call me Liz," the blonde girl interrupted. Abigail looked at her for a moment before continuing.
"Elizabeth," she repeated. "You will be doing most of your work in the basement for the time being. In a few years you will get your own office and at one point you will be assigned a partner and a team. Macey you will be spending a good amount of time upstairs in our department of C&D, Concealment and Disguise, and will eventually be moved upstairs, assuming that both of you are up to par. Rebecca and Cameron, you will be spending most of your time doing practice missions, training and in the beginning especially you will all be expected to do as those above you ask, whether it be getting them coffee or reporting somewhere.
"I'm well aware that you all are from the Gallagher Academy however I should warn you we have had many operatives who have come from that school and failed. You will receive no special treatment no matter where you went to school or who your family is, so I suggest you work hard. Your connection to your school is perceived as bad by many operatives here and you will have to prove yourselves. Good luck," she added as an afterthought before leaving, heading up another flight of stairs and leaving them with Jay.
"Well, I think she pretty much said it all. My only piece of advice is to go all out. You're bound to make mistakes, we all did when we first got here but try to keep your heads and remember that you can't talk about what goes on here with your family. Your whole life is now classified and no one can know what's going on. Also, steer clear of the politics as much as you can, it puts you in more danger the more you play it and connections can only help you so much. Try to stay discreet and never, ever release another operatives name, we don't want another Fair Game incident and that movie doesn't even portray how much danger she was really in. Welcome to Langley," he added before he, too, left.
"Hey, am I the only one who's realized this building doesn't have any fire alarms," Cammie asked as she and her friends were changing in the CIA locker rooms on their second day, getting ready to work out in the gym.
"No, I noticed it," Bex told her as she changed into black shorts and a blue sports tank top.
"So what happens if there's a fire? We all burn?" Liz asked.
"No stupid. We're supposed to be trained enough to handle it," Macey chimed in, They all threw up their hair; a ponytail for Liz, a low side ponytail for Macey, a sloppy bun for Cammie, and a side French-braid for Bex. Glancing in the mirror quickly, they shrugged at their own reflections and linked arms as they went into the workout room. It wasn't packed but that was only due to its enormous size. Had it been a workout room anywhere else it probably would have exceeded maximum capacity. As it was the entire room was big enough to fit an entire football stadium, an Olympic pool, a basketball court and a small house. No joke. It was huge.
Cammie took it all in and realized that there was actually a basketball court off to her left in a separate room. The large area was wide open and you could see the other end clearly though no faces could be made out. It had rows of punching bags, treadmills, weights, mats for sparring or wrestling, a large area that looked like a floor for gymnastics, a trampoline, jump ropes, and two refreshment areas with water and fruit. If you were to walk right out the main doors to the gym you would also find a place to buy smoothies and coffee carts were rolling around the main areas of the building constantly. A lap pool was on the other side of the room from the basketball courts and they saw people doing everything from swimming laps to counting how long they could hold their breath; two people taking turns trying to 'drown' each other while the other fought their way to the surface.
They had seen the room briefly the day before but it somehow seemed a whole lot bigger now that they were standing there.
"Soo," Macey started sounding unusually uncomfortable. "What do we do now?"
"Well," Bex said slowly. "I think we're supposed to train." Macey mad a face at her friend and muttered.
"Funny Sherlock," but none of the girls made any move to go towards any of the gear. After a minute or so Bex grinned and nudged Macey who was to her right, nodding in towards the weights to their left.
"Let's go this way," Bex said. Liz and Cammie shared a surprised look before following their friends. However as they got closer Cam's face turned white and she grabbed Bex and Macey both by their elbows.
"Let's swim laps," she suggested. Liz still looked confused until her eyes also fell on the brown haired guy up ahead.
"No, let's go get a drink first. It's good to be hydrated," she said and took Cam by the arm, practically dragging her until they reached the table that had four guys by it. One was Jay, two were guys none of the girls had ever seen though they looked around twenty and twenty-five, and the fourth one was Zachary Goode.
"Hi Zach!" Liz greeted him brightly. "I wasn't expecting to see you here." Zach raised an eyebrow and said nothing for a moment as he continued to hold his paper cup.
"Yeah, I came on board a few months ago," he said finally. Liz nodded happily, Bex studied the gym again, Macey studied the guys by Zach, and Zach studied Cammie who was pointedly looking away from him.
"So are you going to introduce us?" Macey asked.
"Sure McHenry. This is Jay," he said indicating the guy to his right.
"We've met," Jay informed him.
"Calvin," he said, indicating the guy to his left. "And Peter," he finished indicating the guy beside Calvin.
"Call me Cal," Calvin said as he shook hands with each of the girls.
"And this is Rebecca—"
"Don't call me Rebecca Zachary," she said through gritted teeth. "It's Bex and Bex only." Zach shrugged.
"McHenry, Elizabeth ("Call me Liz"), and Cameron Morgan." Cam gave a small smile to each of the guys and shook hands with Calvin, still not meeting Zach's gaze.
"Cameron Morgan? As in the one you—" Peter cleared his throat loudly and Calvin quickly changed course, rumpling his light brown hair as he did. "Err, I mean the one who's family has been in this business for generations?"
"The very same," Cam said offering him a smile while still not meeting Zach's gaze. "So what do we do here anyways?"
"Ah…Newbie's," Cal said his blue eyes filled with glee.
"I'm not so sure I want his help," Macey mumbled.
"Nonsense!" Cal said in indignation. "I'll show you exactly what to do," Liz turned to follow him onto the mat and slammed right into some one. They both fell to the ground immediately and Liz hit her head on the table with and exclamation of,
"OW!" The boy in question didn't even give her a second glance; he just stood up and brushed himself off before continuing on his way.
"Yeah, that's real nice jackass," Macey called after him while Bex and Cammie reached down to help Liz up.
"I'll take her to get cleaned up," Bex said upon noticing that the table she fell against had given her a bloody nose. Peter and Jay decided to go play basketball and left with a quick 'see you later' and 'welcome to Langley.'
Cal was still standing on the mat waiting for Macey. Cam sent her a panicked look but Macey just shrugged almost imperceptibly before walking onto the mat.
"So do you want me to teach you some moves so we can spar?" Cal asked Macey. She didn't even bother looking offended and immediately pinned him down, much to his surprise.
"Don't bother going easy on me," she said before stepping back and letting him get up.
"So Gallagher Girl, how does it feel to finally be able to say you work for the CIA," Zach asked.
"You know…it's nice," she mumbled watching everyone spar. They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. They hadn't seen, or talked, to each other since Cam's graduation night when they had finally gone all the way. Of course her friends new about it. She watched Macey fight Cal while chanting in her head my friends are evil. They did it on purpose, she knew it.
"Well, I should probably start working," she said finally, velcroing her hand guards. She walked up to the nearest punching bag and started to hit it. Zach followed her. "How do you like working for the CIA?" she asked. Zach, standing beside her, shrugged.
"It's nice. Takes up a lot of time and I haven't been able to do much but whatever." Cammie nodded.
"And your friends? What's their deal?"
"Jay's been working here for years. He used to be in the field but his cover was blown during an op and the right side of his face got blown off. He can't hear out of that ear and his right leg was injured to the point of him being in a wheelchair for two years. He got out of it about a year ago and is coming back but I don't think he'll ever go on a mission again. He's a handler right now.
"Peter does computers. He was recruited right out of college and has been working here for two years. He went to Harvard. Cal never finished his degree at Stanford but he was always planning on working for the CIA. This is his first year to I met him on my first day. He's 21, got his GED from high school a year early, got into Stanford, used his contacts here and got a job. His grandfather worked for the CIA but his dad didn't want to and became a chef. Cal's parents wanted him to become a doctor and he's been pretending he still goes to Stanford."
"That's got to be hard," Cam commented, swinging her foot around to kick the punching bag.
"Not really. They don't like to travel and since they live in Connecticut they never come to see him. He went there for three years and knows enough about it to play it off. He tells stories about his real life and says they happened at college. He's gotten pretty good at lying to them and just says he has classes and has to turn his phone off for meetings or that his phone went dead when he's on a mission for the day."
"Still, I don't think I could lie to my mom like that," she said and Zach shrugged again.
"Your mom was CIA, has a clearance, and supports what you're doing. Not everyone gets that lucky," he said. "Come on, I'll give you a proper tour."
"We're not exactly dressed appropriately for work," Cam pointed out nodding to their workout clothes.
"I didn't mean the building I was talking about the people but if you'd prefer I'm sure we could get around the building without getting seen. 'Course if we were seen you would be in some deep shit but…."
"A people tour sounds great," Cam said, grinning despite herself. They walked around and Zach pointed out the people to avoid ("Sarah is really paranoid and does background checks on everyone"), the experienced operatives ("Leslie used to work with Joe"), the computer geeks ("Steven is one of the best even though he doesn't look like it), and their fellow field operatives. After doing a circle they were stopped at the door and Cam was handed a letter telling her, Bex, Liz, Macey, two girls named Brigitte and Elizabeth, and a guy named James all to report to the basement. Cam glanced at Zach who had read the note over her shoulder.
"Don't worry, it's just protocol, you'll all be getting new phones that are secured. You won't have to turn them off in the building anymore. You can keep your old ones if you want but they have to be turned off when you get within 100 ft. of the Langley grounds."
After twenty minutes of trying to locate everyone they all walked downstairs and were each given a phone that had been released three years ago and was now clean with a new number. They were handed to them all without a word and James and Elizabeth, who had both just been getting replacements left right after. The other five girls looked at each other for a minute.
"Welcome to Langley," Cammie muttered.
A/N: I meant to get this out ages ago but here's the deal: This is going to be a series of related but not chronologically ordered 1-shots, 2-shots, and occasionally 3-shots about Cammie, Bex, Macey, Liz, Zach, Cal, Jay, Peter and anyone else who I decide to add in. They may wind up being from C, B, M, L, Z, or a bystanders point of view. It may be in first, second, or third person but they will all be based in Cammie's first three years while working at the CIA.
My goal is to update every week no matter what. Please REVIEW and feel free to point out any mistakes I missed :D
