MALICIOUS INTENT

CHAPTER 1 RETROSPECTION

"You've gotta be kidding me!" exclaimed Cody. "We have to go thru what kinda training?"

"Cody, this is now an integral part of our training program, according to this memo," Monica told him. "I have no idea what they are talking about on this, but it sounds serious. I guess Frank has put off the training for us as long as he could." She sighed, not too happy with the faxed memo addressed to Frank.

Normally, Frank would have been the first to arrive. Of course, he would have gotten the memo before anyone had the chance to retrieve the copy from the machine. Now, the precarious memo preyed on Monica's inquisitive mind.

"What's going on?" Jake said, walking in the door. He only caught the part about a training program, and was curious as to what new type of bureaucratic bull they were up against.

"We have to go through some specialized training of some sorts. Apparently, it's been in use for sometime now. However, we happened to slip through the cracks, since we've been so busy this year," Monica replied.

Cody just sat and brooded over the situation. He hated this type of training, since it didn't involve the grand realm of the computer world. Anything dealing with computers was a green light, but this, however, was not to his liking at all. This seemed to be on the physical type of training.

"Well, maybe, since we are still in the middle of a stack of files needing investigation, Frank can pull some strings?" Cody said, pulling excuses out of midair.

"No such luck, Cody," Monica said. "You know Frank, he won't buck the system unless he thinks it's an absolutely necessity."

The door to the Nest opened, and they were expecting Frank, but Alex strolled in, happy for some odd reason on a bright Monday morning. The happy look on her face was short lived, when seeing the faces of her comrades-in-arms. Her smile dropped.

"What's the matter now?" Alex inquired, not really sure that she wanted to know.

"We've been ordered to go through some specialized training," Monica told her. "But they didn't specify what kind. All it says is that we're to be going to an undisclosed location for it."

"Probably one of those survival type training things I've been reading about," Cody added.

"What?" they all responded, simultaneously.

Cody just shrugged his shoulders, grinning. He, the computer geek, was always delving deep into the Justice Department's files. He could hack his way into most anything, with the exception of only a few areas, and, of course, Frank Donovan's file. That particular file had remained a mystery to them from day one.

"I hacked into some of the Department's files, and read a little something about a fairly new program that's been going on for a couple of years. It's really intense, but doesn't explain any details. All I know is that it said that it's in a remote location, and that it will either make or break you. It's gotta be bad."

All eyes were riveted on Cody. That little tidbit of information wasn't enough to satiate their hunger for information. They wanted to know exactly what was in store for them.

"Ok then, that explains why you think it's a survival training course. No big deal, we've been through survival training before," Jake said. "When did you get a look at that particular file?"

"I don't know, can't remember. I know it's been at least a few months ago," Cody answered.

"Why didn't you tell us about this!?" Alex exclaimed.

"I didn't think that we'd really have to go through it. We've been so busy, much more than most teams, so I thought we would be bypassed. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem the case now, does it?" Cody replied.

"Cody, there's something wrong with this picture! You never forget to let us know anything new or special going on. How could you have slipped up concerning something like this?" asked Monica.

Cody just shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to say.

"Great, just great!" added Alex, lighting up a cigarette. 'And where the heck is Frank?' she wondered.

"Hey, where's Frank?" asked Monica, seeming to read Alex's mind. "He's always here before we arrive. Maybe he already got called in on this?"

As if on cue, the door to the Nest opened, and Frank walked in. Quietly, he nodded to the team, muttered a faint 'good morning', and headed up the stairs.

Frank sat down behind his desk, contemplating what his team was going to have to endure. He hated this program! He'd already been through it, and it was by far the worst training program that he had ever been through. For several months after the training, he had to go through a lot of psychological therapy to overcome the harsh treatment of the training. Deep down inside, he felt sorry for his team. As a matter of fact, he felt sorry for any agent that had to go through this program. But in all things, good or bad, it was for their own good. He benefited from it, after all the necessary therapy following it was finished.

But the cold hard facts were, he'd never been the same since; it was a make or break program. It didn't actually break him, but he was never the same. Frank was no longer the openly friendly and trusting person he once was. He had to gain a person's trust over a longer period of time. And still, he couldn't open up to them as he would like to do. He had lost someone very dear to him in that accursed program, and so would not let anyone get too close to him anymore. His heart couldn't take it. That part of him was long since gone, leaving him the loner he had become. Frank had been one of their guinea pigs; the Department would never know when a situation would arise that the program's experience would prove beneficial for.

Unfortunately, Frank had found out the hard way whether or not the program worked. Shortly after his discharge when his therapy had ended, he had to make a drastic decision to trade his life to protect another man; willfully placing himself in the hands of the abductors he was trying to negotiate with. He had endured their brutality, but it only proved to drive him deeper within his already battered mind.

Frank just hoped that the treatment they were to endure wouldn't break his much-trusted team.

Running his fingers through his hair, Frank thought about the two women under him. He really hated that part of the training, what they would go through was much worse than what the guys would go through. He worried over them, didn't want to see them go through it, but never would he let them see his inner thoughts. He might come over as too sexist, he knew that they could take care of themselves. They were both very capable women, but nevertheless, he didn't know what impact the program would have on Monica and Alex.

There was a knock at his door, but Frank was in such deep thought, he didn't even hear it. Alex poked her head in, but Frank was miles away in thought, she could see. The rest of the team followed her in and stood by Frank's desk, watching in awe that his thoughts were so deep that their presence didn't even register.

A gentle touch to his shoulder brought him back to reality. He looked up rather startled. How could they have sneaked up on him like that? Or had they? Frank realized that this issue was clouding his mind way too much.

"Frank, what's going on?" Alex asked, unsure of what to say.

They all stared at Frank, as he hesitated. Slowly, he looked up at his team. There would be no beating around the bush concerning this issue. There was no getting around this program; he had fought it all morning with his superiors. They had too large of a workload as it was, but the Department heads told him that the work could wait, there were new developments concerning this program, and since his team was going in for the training, they were the ones chosen to investigate while there. That was their curse, as Frank's team was the best of the best. But as of yet, his superiors had refused to tell him what the new developments were.

"I have some bad news," Frank said. "You four have to go through the newest program that the Department has. There is no way to back out, unless you decide to resign."

All of them just stood and stared, at what Frank was saying. For him to say it in that way, it had to be much worse than they anticipated.

"What kind of training is this?" Monica inquired, nervously.

"Terrorist and Abduction training. How to survive through the various forms of treatment and torture that people are subjected to in these types of predicaments. It is not a pleasure trip; it is not something that I recommend. If any of you wish to resign, I completely understand," Frank said, averting his eyes, unable to control his rising anguish.

They all looked at each other wondering just how bad this was really going to be. They were even more worried because of the way Frank was acting. For him to even suggest that it was okay with him if they wanted to resign, it had to be really bad.

They all made up their minds together. No one spoke; they didn't have to. They were a team, and, by God, that was how they were going to stay.

Jake was the first to speak up. "Frank, we'll go through whatever we have to. But we're a team; that means we stick together through whatever may come our way. And you are our leader; we'll do whatever you say, you know that. We trust you implicitly. But Frank, we just want to know what this involves. I mean, just what are we to expect?"

Frank sighed deeply. How could he explain something so emotionally devastating and physically tormenting? There were no words to really describe the horror they would go through in that one-month's time.

"Your worst nightmare," was all he said. Getting up, he started to walk past his team towards the door. He couldn't take anymore of the thoughts pervading his mind of what he had to endure and still keep a small measure of composure.

"When do we go?" asked Alex, pensively.

"We leave in two days," responded Frank, stopping onto the door's threshold.

"We?" asked Jake, taking a note of that reference, but Frank just raised a hand to silence him.

Just as Frank was heading out the door, his boss suddenly met him, blocking the path of Frank's much needed escape.

"Frank, I need to talk to you," Bloom said, glancing at the others. "Alone."

"Whatever you have to say, can be said in front of my team. I am not hiding anything from them. This is too dangerous of a program for lucrative surprises. I'm not letting them walk in with blindfolds on," Frank said, determined.

"There is no reason for you to go through this program again, Frank," Bloom said. "You know what you went through the first time and how you suffered afterwards. No one should ever have to be subjected to the program twice, much less volunteer to go. Are you out of your mind, Frank?"

"No more than you are for masterminding this program!" Frank responded. "Where my team goes, I go. No excuses, no alternative measures. What Jake said is true; we're a team. I may be in charge of it, but I am a part of them, as they're a part of me. We work together on this, or nothing. I would never allow them to go into this type of scenario while I sit back and observe."

"Frank," said Bloom, sounding exasperated. "It's been proven already that one time is really all an agent should endure. Some can't even endure the program at all! The toughest agents have been tested. A few were sent through on a test program, just to see what the outcome would be a second time. Two are now in our mental institution! The other's behavior is suicidal at best. I don't want to see you wind up like them. DON'T!" he implored.

"NO!" Frank yelled at his boss. "I gave you my answer already this morning, and it won't change! I'm not letting them go in without me, and that's final! If anything happened to them, and I wasn't there to try and help, you might as well put me in the institution with them, or in a casket. Because if anything happened to them and I could've been there to help, and wasn't, I might as well be dead."

The whole team was quite disturbed at this startling revelation. Now, they knew that Frank had already been through the terrorist/abduction program. That must have been why his file was impenetrable. Their implicit faith in their boss cranked up through the roof. How could this man, who had been subjected to what seemed to be a living nightmare, walk willfully into the same situation, all for the sake of his team? A renewed pride and confidence flowed through them all like a current of electricity. They were walking into what, they didn't know. But one thing was for sure; they weren't going in alone.

Frank just stared at his superior, not relenting one tiny bit. "What're the details of this new 'development' that you're keeping from me?" he queried.

"In time Frank, you will know," Bloom said.

"No, I want to know now, not later. I'm tired of this bureaucratic blockade that you throw up when someone higher up decides it's in our best interest not to know! We're walking into God knows what, and we're supposed to just trust whatever the Department decides to throw at us?"

Bloom said nothing.

"How about you save us some time and skip the bureaucratic bull and give us the down and dirty?" Frank snapped. "I'm tired of this department skirting issues where the end result is either that you're dead or wish you were!"