Disclaimer: Never was mine, never will be.

Author's note: Hey everyone! Even though you may be familiar with the first version of Kidnapped Hearts, now that I'm in college I was reading over it and I thought it could be better. So without further ado, I present to you the first chapter of the rewrite. I'm dedicating this to all the faithful readers of the first version! Enjoy!

The last rays of sunlight filtered in through the large windows of Chrome headquarters, casting long shadows in the main office bay. The day was winding down and most of the agents had left already, leaving only a few remaining. Seated at her desk, Technical Specialist Holley Shiftwell tucked her dirty blond hair behind her ear and stared at her computer monitor and the long string of code it displayed. She sighed as she opened yet another window. Software updates. It was a seamless transition with a flawless integration of the new software.

In theory.

The IT department had updated the server software and it had wreaked havoc with her personal programs that made her want to pull her hair out at times.

Currently, she was navigating the reboot process for a Geospatial Information System software. It was a bloated, convoluted software that consumed enormous amounts of processing power, but also provided her with the ability to create digital maps used for whatever was needed for field operations. Holley couldn't help but give a small smile as the installation window closed suddenly and the program flickered to life.

Small miracles.

She double-checked the rest of her software before heading into the system preferences to change her wallpaper. After a study on office moral became headline news, Chrome decided that institution wallpapers were worthless and allowed employees to personalize their desktops. Holley's had an image of Niagara Falls from being deployed to a field station last summer.

"Holley?" a voice interrupted her thoughts.

She turned and saw Siddley approaching her desk. An accomplished pilot, he'd spent several years flying Eurofighter Typhoons over Iraq and Yemen for the Royal Air Force. After he finished his 10 year contract, he was recruited by Chrome and, after a year or so of special training, he joined the ranks as one of the agency's top pilots.

The pilot swaggered over and perched on the edge of her desk, his light brown hair and forehead were smudged with grease and his dark eyes held their usual mischievous glint.

Holley stared at him, "You're sitting on my desk."

"I'm not sitting on anything important," he grinned, picking up the Rubic's Cube by his hip.

Holley watched him turn the pieces for a few moments before asking, "Do you have a reason for being here other then to just sit on my desk and play with my Rubic's Cube?"

"Of course," he pulled his iPhone out of the pocket of his coveralls, "I did a software update on it and now my texts are out of order."

"Out of order?" she took the phone.

"Yeah, my conversations are all out of order. For example I'm flying to New York for vacation. So, I asked my New Yorker cousin what airline I should take if I don't want to disappear over the Atlantic, and his answer is shown before I asked the question. Like he's some all-knowing god or something." He snorted.

Holley sorted through his texts and saw the problem, "I'll try resetting the messaging feature and rebooting the phone. Hopefully, that'll do the trick."

She worked at the phone for a minute and then set it on the desk as the manufacture logo appeared, followed by a status bar.

Holley yawned and rolled her head to side, trying to work out the kinks.

"So where's Finn?" Sid asked looking around.

Holley glanced at Finn's desk that was pushed up against hers, the monitor facing away from her view, "Last time I saw him, he was headed to archives for something. That was almost an hour ago though, he's probably gone home by now."

The phone chirped and Sid snatched it off the desk, typing in his password. His face fell suddenly and he turned the screen toward Holley.

"It didn't work!" he looked almost offended.

She shrugged, "Try Apple. They're the ones that built the thing in the first place."

"But you're the tech person!"

"I try. The operating system is pretty guarded and doesn't allow users to really customize and tweak their phones to their liking. That's why I use Android." She gestured to the smartphone sitting on the desk with its black case and purple detailing.

He played with it for a second longer before his pager beeped shrilly.

He glanced at it and slid off her desk, "Crisis in the hangar. Thanks anyway, Holley."

Holley was left in the relative quiet of the main office bay for only a few moments before the door opened and Finn entered. He raked his hand through his dark hair as he studied the folder in his hand. He looked concerned as his bright, blue eyes had taken on a stormy quality and his brow was furrowed. He was so focused on the file that he didn't notice the strap of his messenger bag had fallen into the walkway between the rows of desks until his foot snagged in the loop. He tipped forward, grabbing the edge of the desk to catch himself and sending his papers flying and knocking over a stale cup of coffee.

"Finn!" Holley leapt to her feet, snatching up her important files as the liquid spilled over her desk and onto her lap.

"I'm so sorry!" He ripped open a desk drawer, pulled out a roll of paper towels and after handing Holley a fistful, began sopping up his mess.

"It was an accident, don't worry about it."

As they worked, Finn allowed his eyes to drift upward and sweep over his coworker. The waist of her lavender colored blouse was soaked with coffee as well as the lap of her dark jeans. Passing the damaged area, his eyes traveled up the rest of her, observing as he went. Her favorite necklace, a simple silver chain with an Amethyst pendant rested against her collar bone and her shoulder-length blond hair was loose and spilling down in waves. She flipped her hair back to look at him and a tropical puff of air hit him in the face. He thought it might have been mango scented but, whatever it was, it was intoxicating.

"So, can you put your bag in a drawer or something? Because all this jumping up and trying to save my things from you is stressful." Holley jerked him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'll stick my bag somewhere else. Did I wreck any of your papers?" He cast a worried glance over toward her area.

"A few of them got a little damp around the edges, but they weren't important to begin with."

He nodded and tossed the soiled towels into the bin before resettling himself at his desk and spreading out his files once again.

Holley retrieved a stainless steel travel mug from a desk drawer and headed toward the drink station at the front of the room. She poured a fresh cup of hot coffee into the container, picked up a few packets of sugar and returned to Finn's desk. He was intently staring at the folder spread before him and didn't hear her return. Curious, Holley peered over her shoulders.

The first few pages were full of stealthily-taken photos of a man as he went about his daily business — getting in and out of cars, carrying a newspaper or leaving buildings. She moved to another page, that had more personal information. His name was Sterling Lassiter, average height and weight, dark hair and grey eyes. He worked in the import and export industry and his current location was unknown. Holley craned her neck to see the upper corner of the paper and found that the file was at nearly a decade old.

So, not a recent case then.

"What's that?" she asked him, "Did you get an assignment?"

He didn't lift his eyes from the page, "No. I… I just keep tabs on certain people through the years."

Holley cocked her head at him, "So, why this guy? The file hasn't been updated in ages."

"I had a run in with him at one point in time," He said with a small smile, although his body language betrayed the tension hidden under the warm facade.

The hot travel container warmed her hand, yet she stood unmoving behind him, watching as he ran his fingers along the pages. There was quiet as Holley stood there, torn between letting the issue drop and pressing him about his sudden fixation.

"Do you ever get feelings?" he asked suddenly, turning to look up at her.

She noticed the deep bags under his eyes and stubble on his chin.

"What kind of feelings?" she asked quietly.

"Just weird feelings. Like a chill that won't go away?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I get those. They usually go away after a while."

He considered her words silently before he noticed the mug in her hand.

"I grabbed you a fresh cup to replace the one I'm now currently wearing," She held it out to him.

He reached out and she saw the tremors racing through his hand.

"How long have you been here today?" She eyed him suspiciously, pulling the coffee out of reach.

He hesitated, "I haven't really looked at the clock, but it was dark when I got here. I've been getting by with coffee."

"Then I'm going to hang on this. By the looks of you, another cup would give you a heart attack. You need to go home."

"I'm almost done," he scrubbed his hands over his face.

"I'm leaving in thirty seconds and you better be following me out." She grabbed her purse.

He nodded, stifling a yawn.

"I'm serious! You need sleep!" she insisted, heading for the door.

He watched her leave, heard the door close behind her and looked down at his wristwatch.

7:30

It was still early enough; he could spend a few more minutes studying the file.

And that's the end of chapter one! This version of the story feels like it's going to be much darker and gritty so I'm going to follow my muse wherever it takes me. As always, thanks for reading and I'd love to hear from you guys so please review!