Chapter 1 – New partners
Sunlight beamed down upon the calm waters of the Thames, glistening and shimmering in the wondrous sunshine; a rare occasion in London. Birds made their voices heard as they swam gently along the surface. Rowers ploughed their way through the waters, pushing their bodies to the limit. Towards the city, horns and engines filled the air from boats passing along the river on the splendid day. In this inner part of the city, was a white, glassed building, standing proudly over the Thames; the MI6 Building.
Inside, ringing phones, muttering of voices and the sound of feet on tiled panels were all around, the bustling building already full of life on this Monday morning. Various people dressed head to foot in the smartest wear rushed around, the TV monitors positioned up high broadcasted the latest information; all was normal that morning. Up high on the eight floor, stood a smart conference room, surrounded by glass panels, with a long table situated inside, plumped up chairs standing around it. In one of these said chairs, sat a man with strawberry blonde locks, a rather slim figure outlined by a crisp, grey suit, and rather abnormally large eyebrows; Arthur Kirkland, one of MI6's top agents.
This particular day, he had been called into the office by his boss, relating to the matter of his next mission. But, at the moment, Arthur just sat in boredom, his legs crossed and his fingers drumming against the glass table. 15 minutes he'd been waiting now. His boss was never usually late. In fact, he would preach about being punctual like fundamentalist, so it puzzled him as to why he would be so late arriving.
Fortunately, not a second later, his boss, a tall man with slightly greying hair, entered the room, his notes tucked under one arm. At his arrival, Arthur immediately stood.
"Good morning, Agent Kirkland," he announced in his deep voice, a warm grin present on his face as he strode over to the table, holding out his hand.
"Good morning sir," Arthur replied, taking his hand and shaking it.
"Apologies for being late, I was caught up attending to some formalities," he stated, taking a seat, and gesturing for the other to do the same.
"Not a problem, sir," he answered, taking his seat and sitting up attentively.
"Now, Kirkland, about your next mission," his boss began, setting his notes on the table, flipping open the file. "There are some things we need to run through before I explain the details as to what you are going to doing."
"What sort of things, sir?" Arthur asked, his brow creasing in confusion.
His boss looked up from his notes, a frown now set in, and linked his hands in front of him on the table. "Now, Kirkland, I know it has been a while since you last mission where you weren't acting alone. That was, of course, when…well, you know what happened," he muttered in a calm tone.
Arthur nodded to him, not saying a word. There was no need.
"Well, the mission in question that you have been lined up with demands that you have at least one partner with you. As such, we have got a new partner for you to work with. Now I know what you're going to say…" He held up his hand as he saw Arthur opening his mouth to protest. "…that you would rather work alone than have a new companion, but for safety reasons, we cannot have you going off into the field alone, as much as you might think you can. We all know you're an exceptional officer, but this really is very dangerous mission. However, because we know you are such an incredible officer, and have so many years in the field in such a scope of missions, we thought we could use this to your advantage," he explained.
"…I see," Arthur replied obediently. He couldn't really defy orders, but he honestly did not like the idea of having another officer alongside him, considering how badly the last one went. The idea of having someone else's life in his hands again brought him a renewed sense of anxiety, something he wasn't normally familiar with, considering how he spent the majority of his work facing death in the face.
His boss nodded in approval, his grin returning. "Now, Kirkland, tell me what you know of the relationship between MI6, and America's CIA?"
Well that was certainly an odd question, one that made Arthur look rather surprised. "Erm, well, though both organisations have a lot that they keep private, because of our supposed 'special relationship' to the US, both have shared some information between each other, in order to obtain a more detailed knowledge of certain other events internationally. But sir, why do you ask me about this? What has this got to do with mission?" he asked.
Arthur's boss just grinned widely. "I'm glad you asked," he said, taking some pieces of paper and handing them over to Arthur. "As part of building a stronger 'relationship', if you would want to call it that, over the years, the CIA and MI6 has sent officers to each other. We've sent many officers to work with the Americans, but, in this instance, they send officers over here to work alongside our own. For your next mission, I want you to do just that," he explained to Arthur.
Arthur, by all rights, was shocked. He looked down at what he had been handed, his eyes just quickly scanning the profile of the person that was in front of him.
"Your partner for this mission will be CIA Agent Alfred F. Jones. He's just finished his training in California, but he has already proved himself to be an incredibly versatile officer. Some of his superiors have been astounded with how effective he has been in training. As such, they believe he is ready to go into such a dangerous mission. But, they know full well that someone without proper experience shouldn't be going into any mission alone, hence why I have asked you to be his partner. With someone like you by his side, he shall be able to grow and develop well in the presence of such a skill level as your own. It's a good thing for both parties; you get a new partner for you to be able to complete your mission, and he gets the relevant experience with some mentoring, shall we say," his boss went on to say.
Arthur was honestly astounded. So many things were running through his mind, so many questions, but as he looked up to look at his boss in the eye, he was calling the secretary at the end of the corridor of officers, asking her to send down the new recruit. Sure enough, not ten seconds later, in stepped the officer in question; sandy blonde hair with baby blues hidden behind glass, and a trim black suit. The pair of British officers stood, and the smirk returned to face of Arthur's boss.
"Agent Jones!" his boss announced, walking to his side and patting his shoulder. "Agent Kirkland, this is your new partner, and Agent Jones, this is infamous Agent Kirkland. I trust the two of you will get own splendidly together," he cheered.
The American grew a wide grin, white teeth and all. "Hey there, Agent Kirkland! I've heard a lot about you. I really look forward to working with you," he announced, holding his hand out to the other.
"Oh, y-yes, it's a pleasure to meet you as well," Arthur returned, taking the other's hand and shaking it, as his eyes wandered up and down the other's physique. He wasn't kidding when he said that he had just left training. The boy didn't look a day older than a high school student. He may be a protégé, but Arthur had his doubts as to whether he would be able to cope with such a highly ranked mission.
His boss beamed proudly like a proud parent. "Well, now that the two of you have introduced each other, let's get down to business shall we?" he announced as he took his seat. The others followed suit. He took a remote and aimed it at the screen, which flickered into life, displaying a map and some drop down boxes, before handing the two agents a hard copy of what he was about to discuss.
"Part of the reasoning as to why Alfred is here, is that both the CIA and MI6 have information on a particular organisation, which, only a few weeks ago, was officially classified as a terrorist organisation by UN. I take it the two of you have heard about the bombings that have occurred in Barcelona and Monte Carlo?" he questioned. The two nodded. "Whether you knew this or not, the organisation behind both of those bombings, is known as the Musketeers. As yet, their intention is not known, but what we do know is that no other terrorist organisation claims to have any connection to them. However, what we do know is this; after the CIA detained a witness and interrogated him, we know the location who their leader is, where they are currently based, and that they are currently planning to attack again," he stated, as he drew up one of boxes, displaying a black and white image of a man with apparent fair skin and hair, black shades hiding his eyes. "This is Gilbert Belischmidt, the head of the organisation. According to our sources, he's a dangerous criminal who has spent many years in the business of supplying illegal firearms to other fellow terrorists, giving him a vast fortune, and, we're suspecting a vast empire of agents too to protect him. His headquarters is currently based in the Easter part of Berlin, in a large storage facility," he said as he indicated to where it was on the map, via a laser pen. "Your mission is simply to head to Berlin, and gather information, or better yet, capture Gilbert or any one of his higher ranking officers. As yet, we don't know what higher ranking officers there may be, as there's only so much you can get out of one suspect, but we do know that there could be around 3 or 4 of them. If you can complete this mission, this will mean that there is a chance that we can stop them from bombing their next target," he explained to the agents, how simply sat quietly and nodded. "Your flight to Berlin will leave tomorrow morning, so today, you are relieved from duties to pack your things and to obtain any equipment you might need from the armoury downstairs. Is there any questions?" he asked.
Despite his reservations, Arthur shook his head along with Alfred. This wasn't really the suitable time to be complaining to his boss about his dislike to his new partner.
His boss beamed. "Great. Well, you are to congregate downstairs. Agent Kirkland, you may leave immediately. Agent Jones, I need to give you a little more briefing before I send you on your way."
As they all stood up together, gathering their things together, Arthur's boss headed to the glass door, holding it open for the younger agent. "See you in the morning Agent Kirkland," he chirped as he left, giving one last flash of a smile, before he left with the other.
As soon as the room was quiet, Arthur sighed. Something told him that this wasn't going to go as smoothly as his superior made it out to be.
((Thank you for reading my first chapter. I really am excited about this new fic I'm working on :D If you could please leave a comment about criticisms or ways to improve, I would adore you greatly~ Update soon uwu))