1145 hours-Washington DC, White House
Secretary of State Anthony Hedges was working late. He had bid the president goodnight close to four hours ago and then settled in at his office to finish up the excessive amount of paperwork that the Egyptian Incident, Case File #1145, had resulted in. He was all but knee deep in paperwork when there came a knock at the door and one of the guards stuck his head in. "CIA Agent Pamela Landy to see you sir," the man said, startling Hedges out of his work.
"Let her in," he said, shoving round, wire rimmed glasses up his nose. CIA Agent Pamela Landy was in her late thirties with long blonde hair pulled back in a neat bun. Her heels clicked through the thin carpet and despite the crispness of her black dress suit she looked tired. "Sit down," Hedges urged gently, motioning to the chair across from his desk. Landy hesitated for a moment and then sat, placing three files neatly on his desk. "I take it these are your recommendations.
"Yes," Pamela Landy said with a crisp nod. Hedges pulled the files toward him and flipped open the first one. He smiled wryly at the picture gazing coldly up at him, unsurprised by the suggestion. "It only seems fitting since we've caused him so much hurt," Landy added as he gazed at the picture.
"You're right, of course," Hedges replied. "I'll look over your selections and get them cleared within forty-eight hours."
"Thank you," Landy replied, standing, and Hedges smiled at her. Over the past four months Pamela Landy had upset the food chain in Washington, bringing terrible deeds done right under their noses to light and working to clear public enemy number one. Hedges had pegged Landy as a hard hitter right from the start, not making the mistake many other politicians did by assuming she would be satisfied with week assurances and shoved aside. Landy would give up her job to tell the world the truth; the reason why Hedges had become Landy's ally.
Their current project, titled the Alpha Assignments, was being assembled now to be passed on to the president. The files sitting before Hedges were Landy's suggestions for the members of the Alpha team and Hedges were sure they were all good ones. Now he stopped Landy by calling her name just as she reached the door. "Pam?"
"Yeah?" Landy said, turning back to look at him.
"Nice work," Hedges said, lifting a hand to his head in salute. Landy nodded once at him with a tired smile before leaving, shutting the door quietly behind her. Hedges smiled at the door for a moment before turning back to the file. He flipped the picture over and had just begun to skim the first page when the lights flickered and went out. Hedges froze, reaching beneath the desk for the handgun he kept hidden there. He had only used it twice in the gun range this month instead of his usual four but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of killing anyone looking to assassinate him.
Anthony Hedges wasn't exactly the most well liked Secretary of State. He was known for dealing straight with everyone and dealing harshly with those around him who lied to him. In result he had gained many enemies over the years and now would be a perfect time for someone to eliminate him. "Sir?" The guard opened the door slightly and poked his head in for a moment. "As you can see there's been a momentary power failure and since the backup generators are currently being updated it will be a few moments before the power retu-" The guard cut off mid sentence with a strangled noise, tumbling silently to the ground with a blade through his chest.
Hedges stood calmly, removing the gun from under his desk and firing two bullets straight into the heart of the first assailant. The second jumped over the dead body of the first attacker and the slumped frame of the guard only to be shot by another guard in the back of the head. That was when something crashed through the mostly bulletproof window to smack past Hedges' ribs and into his lungs. As the Secretary of State collapsed to his knees, wheezing wetly as blood flooded into one of his lungs, the second bullet blasted into his skull, killing him before he fully hit the floor.
0112 hours-Arlington, Virginia, Apartment Complex
She woke the instant the phone rang, sending a wave of noise through the pitch black apartment. It cut off in the middle of the second ring and Crystal tensed until two solid fist thumps against her wall reassured her that her mentor and roommate had answered the phone instead of someone cutting the lines. She had just relaxed under the covers, hand drifting away from the wickedly sharp knife underneath her pillow, when her door opened and a familiar hulking figure stepped into her room. "What is it?" she asked softly, and then wondered when he didn't respond right away if she'd said it in Arabic.
"Trouble," Jason Bourne replied a moment later. All thoughts of languages aside, Crystal sat up instantly, leaving the knife beneath the pillow.
"What kind of trouble?"
"Someone just assassinated Secretary of State Anthony Hedges," Bourne replied. "Landy just called to say they're trying to peg it on me."
"How soon will they be here?" Crystal demanded, standing to her full height of five foot six inches.
"Maybe an hour," Bourne replied.
"How soon are you leaving?"
"Ten minutes," Bourne answered, already heading for the door. "Stay out of custody." Crystal nodded once and then, without turning on a light, began digging through her dresser for fresh clothing. It was go time.