Shes not the tallest; standing at a measly 5'4. Shes not the curviest; stuck with medium-sized breasts and un-fittingly large hips in comparison. She was certainly prettier than most, though, there was no doubt about that, with fairly long dark brown and blonde hair that wisps over her green-gray eyes perfectly. Her face had light freckles that were missed by most until summer came around, when they turned a dark-brown color and were impossible to miss on her pale skin. She was a woman with a lot of self-respect. She was also a complete perfectionist. She hated failing at anything, so she tended to avoid any situation where she could potentially fail... Staying in her comfort zone was a good pace for her.

However, she was most certainly out of her comfort zone this time.

As she looked over the planes windows, she saw that they were still in the clouds, but after looking at her watch, she realized that they were almost at their destination. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. Within the next hour, she would have to meet with General Shepherd. According to her Lieutenant, he was a very important man in the military, if not already indicated by his rank, who runs an elite squad of "the best of the best". ...So why the hell was she here? She was certainly proud of herself for her ranking of Sergeant, which was a task that few women had achieved based on her observations, but come on, why would someone like General Shepherd ask for a private conference with her? She was an ordinary solider serving her country. Stress "ordinary".

As the plane got lower and lower, she watched the clouds get left behind. She could now see the ground below, and she found herself staring at what she was sure was the airport in the distance.

"Alexa?"

She turned her head away from the window at the calling of her name. Seeing that it was her Lieutenant, she uncrossed her legs, moved her hand from supporting her head and sat straight up.

"Yes, sir?" She replied as formal as possible. Even though she knew he preferred it when his subordinates acted casual around him, she was preparing herself for the meeting.

"You're nervous, aren't you?" He smiled. He was an aging man, most likely in his forties, who had short brown hair that started a bit further back on his forehead, and looked a bit odd with his slight widows peak. His skin was tanned in comparison to her own, but that wasn't saying much. Her favorite part about him was his eyes, though. They were a light brown, but when you looked into them you found kindness and genuine emotion. He was dressed in a dark olive green suit with giant gold buttons, as were most armed forces men when not on field missions. His jacket was decorated with tons of pins celebrating his achievements and awards over the years. He was holding his beret in his hands for some unknown reason. Usually, army men only took them off when they were honouring a fallen solider or listening to the "star-spangled banner". At least, that's what she did.

She nodded as suddenly felt insecure about not wearing her matching olive green suit. For whatever reason, without it, she felt lost; like she didn't belong with the big boys.

"Don't worry about it, Sergent." He smiled again, taking a seat next to her. It was a small, private plane that she was being flown to DC on, and the silence had given her some time to reflect on the situation. Now that the Lieutenant was here though, she realized that she hadn't reflected enough because she was still terrified for the meeting. "Its an honor to be summoned by General Shepherd, but he is still just a man."

"Even though I'm aware of that, I'm still nervous, sir." She sighed.

"I'll be with you the whole time. Whatever happens, just remember that it is for the best."

"...Sir?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. That was her way of asking him to inform her of something that he seemed to know that she didn't.

"We land in 10 minutes. The meeting is in 15. Ready yourself, Sergent Young." He got up and left, going back to talk to the pilot, she assumed. She leaned back in her chair, wondering what the hell he meant. Even if he had come to her to talk her up and make her calm, that last sentence had her ever more concerned. Looking down at her snow white tank top and baggy desert-camo cargo pants, which were tucked into her army boots that almost went up to her knee, she began feeling self-conscious again. No uniform, and she was about to be introduced to probably the most important person she would ever meet in her life... Nice. She pulled out her iPod and flipped it so that she was holding the back-side facing her. It was a 1st generation 32GB, and she had learned from experience that the back worked wonders as a portable mirror. Her hair was completely pulled back into a high ponytail, minus a few pieces that stayed in front of her ears and refused to join the ponytail. She had a little bit of mascara on today, despite her usual "fresh face" routine.

Tucking her iPod back into her pocket, she looked at her watch and counted down the minutes until arrival. Every time the seconds hand passed by the 12 and the minute hand lurched forward, she felt another knot gather in her stomach. Finally, she felt the place descend quicker than before, and soon enough, the plane knocked her nearly out of her seat as the pilot landed. When the plane slowed, her Lieutenant re-appeared from the cockpit, and she had confirmed her earlier guess that he was conversing with the pilot.

She grabbed her backpack that had everything that she had required for her "going away" missions. When the plane came to a complete halt, he opened the door and she nodded at him. As they descended in the steps, she was caught-off guard by the amount of activity surrounding the airfield. A green jeep came driving towards them, and a friendly-looking man in uniform looked down at his clipboard as he stopped in front of them.

"Alexa Young and Lieutenant Clarke?" He read from the paper, looking up at them.

Just as she was about to correct the man, her Lieutenant beat her to it. "That's Sergent Young, young man." Obviously he could have chosen a better wording so that he didn't repeat "Young" twice, but she was thankful that he had said anything.

"Thanks, sir." She whispered as she slipped into the back of the jeep, followed by him. The young man offered a quick apology, but Alexa doubted he was sincere. He had called her that on purpose; she knew that her name came up as "SGT Alexa Young". Appearances were deceiving, she reminded herself as she relabeled him in her mind as "asshole".

When she looked around, she saw that they were headed for another airplane, this one bigger than the one that they had taken to the airfield, but still far too small to be commercial. And standing in front of the entrance to the place was a man dressed in green and white.

Alexa's heart started beating hard. She had distracted herself with the "asshole" driving the jeep long enough to forget about her earlier worries, but they were back. As they got closer, she started noticing more things about him; white hair covered by a black beret with three stars on it, his folded arm stance... The most puzzling, though, he was dressed in green and white camo; the type that solider only wore when they headed out for a mission. She took another look at the plane.

"Sir, are we boarding that plane?"

"Yes, sergeant." He replied, keeping his eyes forward.

Just as she was about to ask another question, the jeep stopped, and she noticed that they were a few seconds away from where Shepard was standing. Lieutenant Clarke opened the jeep door, and started walking towards Shepard. Alexa scooted across the seat and was about to leave when the man driving said something.

"Good luck, girl. Wherever you're headed, you've definitely need it." He smirked, and she could tell that he was mocking her.

"At least I'm not stuck here driving around the airfield. I'm out there fighting on the front lines, something that I'm guessing that you don't have the balls to do." She flipped him the bird discreetly and exited the jeep, slamming the door behind her. She wasn't just about to take somebody's shit, especially from someone that didn't know her... Especially not now.

By the time Alexa had reached the two men, they were shaking hands.

"...Good to see you again, Clarke."

"As you, Shepherd."

"And this must be the young recruit." He motioned over to her, and she saluted. She wasn't sure which context he'd used "young" in, but it referred to her either way.

"Sergeant Alexa Young, its an honor General." She stood at straight up as she could, but she was still dwarfed by the two men standing by her.

"Good to meet you, Sergeant." He reached for her hand, and she relaxed long enough to shake it. "Now, if you'd be kind enough to board the plane with me, than we'll be ready for takeoff."

"Sir." She saluted again before beginning up the plane stairs. She heard Shepherd say a few more things to Clarke before she heard footsteps continue up the stairs behind him. As she entered the plane, she waited for the two men to arrive. She saw a black beret appear, and as Shepherd entered the plane, the blonde air hostess who had been standing by secured the door shut. Shepherd motioned her to follow him as he walked through the parting of a seating area, finally sitting down near the end where there were comfy chairs opposed to the other rows of basic seats similar to the ones you sat on whilst riding the bus. As they took their seats, she looked back, but only saw the blonde air hostess walking down the walkway between the rows of chairs.

"What can I get you two?" She asked with a big smile, standing before them with her hands together in front.

"Coke and rye." Shepherd replied, more concerned with looking over a clipboard than at the woman.

"You, ma'am?" She turned towards Alexa.

"Uh, just a water is fine, thank you." She fumbled her words and barely regained enough composure to finish the sentence. She was caught off guard by the question. The blonde nodded and walked back the way she'd came.

"Excuse me, sir," Alexa spoke, her voice trumbling unwillingly, despite her best intentions.

Shepherd looked up from his clipboard briefly, giving her the go ahead nod to continue her speech before looking back at his papers.

"Isn't Lieutenant Clarke coming with us?"

"Negative. He had to take care of other matters."

Alexa cursed him in her mind, spitting on his promises of staying with her to support her. When she got back, she'd have words with him...

"Sergeant Alexa Young. Age 25. Enlisted on July 23, 2009, two days after your 18st birthday. Fresh out of high school. You moved up the ranks very fast. All of your superiors note you in a positive light." He was flipping back through pages on the clipboard, clearly summarizing what she had assumed to be a report on her.

"Thank you, sir." She nodded. The blonde women from earlier appeared with their drinks, setting down a short, wide glass in front of Shepherd with two ice cubes. She set down a tall glass for Alexa with ice cubes and a lemon wedge half in, half out of the glass. She nodded her thanks to the women, but Shepherd completely blew her off.

"Any idea why you're here today, Sergeant?" He asked, setting his clipboard down on his lap to take a sip of his drink.

"Negative, sir." She replied, taking a quick sip of the ice cold water.

"I'm in charge of an elite anti-terrorism squadron called Task Force 141, known as TF141 for short. It is filled with the best fighters that the nations could supply. I'm currently looking for a new member to do an undercover mission in Moscow. I'd like you to audition with some Rangers to see if you can make the cut.

"It'd be my honor, sir." She quickly replied, surprised by the opportunity. "By the way, where are we headed right now?"

"Firebase Phoenix, Afghanistan." He stated, taking another sip of his drink.

Quick prologue, I hope you enjoyed it : ) Please R&R.