A/N This fic will be written similar to the style used by James Patterson in Maximum Ride. Through writing Price of Freedom, I discovered that writing Amber in first person is really easy and rather enjoyable. No idea why- although it could be something to do with her personality and the way I usually write- but I thought it'd be interesting to try and write a fic from almost solely her point of view. So, back to James Patterson's writing style. Any first person bits in from Amber's point of view and third person bits are just third person bits, though I'm still not sure whether I will be doing any third person parts or not. This fic will mostly centre on the mission Amber is on, though the rest of Alpha Force will be making an appearance throughout, particularly in later chapters. This fic will be kind of slow to get going, but expect quite a bit of action later in a few chapters.

Disclaimer: I own just the plot and characters other than Alpha Force, which belong solely to Chris Ryan. I also don't own any of the chapter titles as they are all the names of songs

Chapter One: Tell Me The Truth

Li was just about wetting herself with excitement. As soon as she caught sight of me, Li let out a squeak and barrelled towards me. I had about three seconds until impact and all I could do was yell, 'Argh!' and cringe. Needless to say, that didn't stop her from crashing into me.

'Spill,' she gasped, grabbing my arm and dragging me towards her table. Two empty coffee mugs and a plate told me that Li had been waiting a while. And patience wasn't exactly the first word that leapt to mind when Li Cheong was in question.

I collapsed into the chair opposite Li and regarded her freakishly eager expression with amusement. 'Well...' I began.

Before I could launch into a full recount of my morning, a waitress appeared at my left elbow. Mousy brown hair corkscrewing wildly in every direction, the waitress pasted a fake smile on her pale face and muttered, 'Ordering?'

'Sure,' I chirped pleasantly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Li twitch impatiently. Oh well, she'd just have to wait.

'Ordering?' the waitress repeated a tad firmer than necessary.

Deciding to overlook her rather rude conduct, I said, 'Um...' and plucked the menu off the table. The waitress gave a sigh that Li echoed.

'Hurry up.' Li sounded exasperated.

'Yeah, yeah. I'll have a coffee and a toasted sandwich.' I replaced the menu and beamed at the waitress. She scowled, her pencil scribbling across her notepad like a demented spider trying to tap dance.

'That all?' she grunted.

'Yep.' I kept the smile on my face until her back was turned, then rolled my eyes and swivelled back to face Li.

'Now speak,' she said firmly.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, drew a huge breath into my lungs and started talking about something which held no real excitement. At least not the amount of excitement Li was showing.

'Well, you already know where I was, right?' I said.

Now it was Li's turn to roll her eyes. 'Duh. With Harry. The big boss. Lord of All. At Headquarters.' She mad a hurry up gesture with her right hand. 'Continue.'

'Right. So I was minding my own business, going through the contents of my refrigerator and cupboards to see what needed restocking when I got a call from Harry. He sounded a bit flustered and told me to- and this is his own words by the way- get my ass down there as there was an important and urgent matter to discuss.'

'And this matter was...?' Li prompted.

'A new mission for me.' I was starting to catch the enthusiasm bug. 'My first solo mission, Li. I'm going to miss working with you guys, but this is going to be really awesome.'

Li was either genuinely happy for me or a bloody good actress. 'That's great, Amber! What's your mission on? When do you start? Where will you be?'

I quickly flipped my hands up before Li drowned me with questions. 'Firstly, not too loud. You never know who's listening.' God, I felt so clichéd. Give me a trench coat, hat and dark sunnies and I was set. The walls have ears. 'Secondly, I don't know much about it. All Harry said was I'd be infiltrating a terrorist slash human trafficking slash drug dealing group that may or may not be linked to the subject of our last mission.'

Li's eyes narrowed. No doubt she was reliving certain moments from our last mission in Australia: the young girl who'd tried to escape being ripped apart by two lionesses; Paulo being framed for the murder of his roommate; the five of us being chased across the freaking desert by a brick-like man and his lackeys. Fun times.

'So you'll be around, then?' Li finally said, spinning her hand around on the word around.

I nodded. 'Not much is known about them, so Harry said I'm not to stress too much if I don't get an immediate result. Or any result at all,' I added as an afterthought.

Her curiosity satisfied, Li sat back. The grumpy waitress returned, dumped my plate and cup in front of me and sighed loudly when Li ordered another drink.

'She certainly won't be getting a tip,' Li muttered as the waitress flounced off. I chuckled and picked up my toasted sandwich.

For the next few minutes I chomped and Li sat, silent and still. I was about halfway through the second half of my sandwich when I looked up and saw the look on Li's face. Stifling a groan, I slowed my chews, trying to think of something to talk about that was way away from that subject.

Too late.

'So, Amber,' Li began in her specially crafted you-can-tell-me-anything tone. 'Spoken to Hex lately?'

I chewed slightly harder than required, wincing as my teeth cracked together. The question was innocent enough, but the underlying meaning was crystal clear.

There were a few reasons that I didn't really want to talk about that particular topic: one, I wasn't exactly sure where things stood at the moment or where I wanted things to stand; two, Li had a habit of constantly hounding me for information; and three... I just didn't want to talk about it.

Looking around for either an escape route or, failing that, another topic to discuss, I cursed Li's craftiness. We were seated at a table in the back corner of the café. Even if I did manage to slip out of my seat, Li would have numerous opportunities to drag me back. Maybe she'd get the hint if I just said, 'I don't want to talk about it.'

'I don't want to talk about it,' I said in a firm but still friendly voice.

But Li had obviously had more than enough of my evasiveness. 'No, Amber,' she said in a voice that was equally firm though a tad less friendly. 'You are going to talk.' She gave a small smile and a bit of the harshness dropped out of her voice. 'I know something's up,' Li added with a pompous look,' and it's not good to bottle everything up. Though I've been telling you that for years and you've never listened.'

A memory of our first mission with MI5 flashed through my mind, in particular Li making some comments and me storming out of the flat. Maybe it was time to get a few things off my chest. Well, one thing. I could trust Li not to say anything. Couldn't I?

'Fine,' I relented. 'Ask away.'

Li looked shocked. You could almost hear the cogs in her brain clicking away. A gigantic WARNING would be flashing in her mind.

'You sure?' she ventured cautiously, still trying to decide whether I was joking, serious, or trying to distract her before making a run for it.

'Yep.' I swallowed the last bite of my sandwich, took a sip of my coffee and looked evenly at her. 'Ask away.'

'Alrighty.' Li recovered very quickly from her surprise and rubbed her hands together. I was already regretting my decision. Stupid peer pressure. 'Where to begin... Oh, most obviously- I love my memory- is what I said to you last year true?'

Play dumb, play dumb, play dumb.

'Last year? What did you say?'

'We were in the flat and I asked you if Hex was the reason that you-'

'Oh, that.' My plan had just backfired right in my face. Trust Li to take the bit in her mouth and run with it.

'So...' Li urged, leaning slightly forward.

I shrugged nonchalantly and she grinned, taking my rather dismissive gesture as a yes.

'I knew it!' she enthused. 'That just about answers all my other questions as well.'

Relief. 'Great. So we're done?' I started to stand up but Li's look made me crash back into my chair.

'Two more questions. One, have you told anyone else about this?'

I shook my head, guessing that her next question would be Do you plan on telling anyone else about this? The answer to that was obviously no. Hopefully that would double as a subtle yet easily understood hint.

But it was Li's turn to surprise me.

'What happened?' She was doing the scary leaning forward thing again, although this time her voice was soft and soothing.

This time it wasn't hard to play dumb; I didn't have a clue as to what she was talking about.

'What happened when?'

'End of our last mission.'

Oh. This was hard to answer because I wasn't exactly sure what had happened. Something had changed, but as for what that was and where it left me, well... My guess was as good as a total stranger's.

'I really don't know,' I replied. 'It was all kinda... confusing.' I laughed but it sounded hollow, even to my ears. 'You know Hex.

Luckily, Li didn't press it. She obviously sensed that I was telling the truth. 'Ok. But if it was confusing' –she gave me a cheeky grin- 'you should ask Hex what he meant.'

'Argh,' I groaned, dropping my head on my arms folded on the table top. 'You don't ever let it go, do you?' I raised my head again and half frowned, half glared at Li. 'I don't give you the third degree over Paulo.'

Li just looked at me for a looooong moment.

'Hypocrite,' I muttered under my breath.

'At least we don't spend three quarters of the time we're together bickering over trivial crap. At least we're not completely blind. At least we're' -she searched for the right words, drumming her fingers on the tabel top- 'able to show affection towards each other in public.'

Li then changed topic and started rambling on about something or other, but I was only half listening. As painful as that conversation had been, it had really made me think. We weren't kids any more and nowadays 24 could easily be considered fairly old. Six of my friends from school were already married and four of those six had at least one kid. It was a terrifying prospect, though I had no idea why.

When I turned 15, I remember Uncle John joking about how I was halfway to 30. At my next birthday I was going to be halfway to 50. When life was put into the perspective, it seemed so short and almost insignificant.

I stayed at the café with Li for another half an hour before I left to go and attend to my grocery shopping and Li scampered off on some mysterious errand.

In aisle three- canned goods- my phone buzzed shrilly, earning me curious glances from fellow shoppers. Ohhhhhh... How exciting! She's getting a phone call. Please save me from the insanity.

'Yes?' I answered the phone in the usual breathless, slightly snappy tone of voice that everyone seems to use when grocery shopping. Highlight of my week.

'Amber. Sorry about this but we need you down here, pronto,' Harry said.

I sighed, eyeballing the pitiful contents of my trolley.

'Um, can't it wait half an hour?' I asked, me mentally running through the countless items I still had to buy.

Harry muttered, 'Hang on a tic,' and dropped the phone, judging by the clunk in my ear. I scowled at a can of lentils and imagined it was my boss while I waited for the phone to be picked up again.

'Sure,' Harry said finally, after three minutes of me toe tapping and pretending not to notice the weird looks I was getting. 'Half hour. But then we need you down here,' he added, applying quite a bit of force to the last four words.

''Kay,' I muttered, hanging up.

I finished my shopping in record time, foregoing some of the slightly less urgent items to make my deadline.

Threading through the typical London traffic on my way to Headquarters, I had time to ponder what could have caused Harry's sudden phone call. I'd spoken to him what, two, three hours ago. The urgent meeting no doubt had something to do with my upcoming mission, though what that exactly was remained a mystery.

Harry's office was on the fourth floor. The elevator was out of order- again- so I took the stairs.

As I reached the door, I stopped, hand hovering in front of the handle. Raised voices came from inside. I dropped my hand to my side and listened.

'A terrorist group of all things. Need I remind you what happened the last two times we tackled that sort of organisation and that was with all five of us.' I frowned. The voice was painfully familiar, although the tone was different and the words slightly muffled by the wall. 'What the hell are you thinking?'

'I know things are rather informal around here,' said Harry- it had to be him- in a slightly strained voice, 'but I am still your boss.'

'You're also Amber's boss and yet you're sending her into-' I missed the rest of the sentence as the realisation of who was speaking set in. Bloody Hex.

'Look,' Harry said gently. 'I know how you feel about Amber and I know you worry about her, but she is capable, overly capable, of handling this herself.' There was a slight pause before Harry continued: 'Trust me on this one. Trust her.'

Time for my entrance. I tiptoed back up the hall and clunked my way towards the office again. The voices immediately stopped and I swung open the door with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

'Hello!' I exclaimed brightly, collapsing into a chair. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Hex's astonished and slightly worried look, most likely wondering if I'd heard any of his argument with Harry. Harry obviously hadn't told him I was coming in, just like he hadn't told me Hex would be here. Our boss had an annoying habit of leaving out or forgetting to tell us important bits of information.

Before anyone could say anything else, the door was shoved open again and Li, Paulo and Alex barged into the room. Harry didn't even wait for them to sit down before starting to talk.

'Alright. First of all, I want to clear a few things up.'

A blind person across the street wouldn't have missed the far-from-subtle look he threw in Hex's direction. I stared at the ground, wondering how Harry would approach this. Surprisingly, he took a more...inconspicuous route.

'This is far from a solo mission. Not because you're not capable, Amber' –another glance towards Hex that again was noticed by the entire room- 'but because these four would get bored sitting around here with nothing to do but dull, monotonous paperwork to do.'

My friend's faces visibly brightened, especially Li's.

'So what are we doing then?' Alex asked. 'Backup?'

Harry tilted his head. 'Kind of. Amber will be the only one in the thick of it, but as the group is thought to base itself around here, we can have you lot trailing around, keeping an eye out and listening for anything.'

'Can I ask why Amber's been chosen?' Paulo asked. The question might have sounded envious, but, coming from Paulo, it just sounded curious.

'Ah...' Harry actually looked embarrassed and I immediately started to panic.

'What?' I squawked.

'We do know that the head of this "group" is a guy called Jasper. No idea what his last name is, but he's head honcho fella and runs the whole shebang.' Harry stopped talking. He still looked guilty and embarrassed.

'And...' Li prompted.

'Amber' –Harry turned to face me- 'you're one of the only America-born officers we have here and the only female one.' I suddenly saw where this was going. 'Let's just say that Jasper has a bit of a... preference for... your sort of person.'

While his last sentence could have been described as inconclusive, Harry had no need to elaborate.

'Great,' I heard someone mutter; I had a feeling I knew where that comment came from.

'So I'm going to be taking that sort of angle with this mission then.' I said it as a statement, not a question, fully aware that the atmosphere in the room was bordering on Antarctic. Harry was receiving looks of shock and I was getting a mixture of shock, worry and confusion.

'Yeah,' Harry murmured, seeming surprised I was taking this announcement in my stride. I really didn't see what all the fuss was about; misleading a dangerous criminal so he'd let incriminating evidence slip out. Easy peasy.

Harry had put on his serious face, an expression we saw so little it was like he had an identical twin that didn't see life as a joke and who made a guest appearance whenever the situation called for it.

'Now, Amber,' Harry cautioned. 'This sort of mission- where you have to get close to the target- can end badly. It's not overly common, though it has happened with junior officers such as yourself.'

'What are you talking about?' I asked, completely bewildered as to what Harry was implying.

'If you end up falling for this guy- "crossing to the Dark Side" as we've nicknamed it- things could end very badly for you.'

'Why have you got a nickname if this isn't that common?' I asked lightly. Truthfully, I wasn't that worried, for the obvious reason, but also because in my mind I knew that Jasper- whoever he was- would always be the enemy, no matter if I fell in love with him or not. I doubted whether my conscious would let me run away to the Bahamas with, regardless of the circumstances.

Harry had ignored or not heard my last comment, though my bet was on ignored. He was riffling through a stack of papers beside his right elbow, a frown wrinkling his forehead.

'Ah ha!' he crowed. I think he was just super pleased he'd actually found something amongst all his junk. 'Jasper likes to hang about the Triumph- that posh bar with all the twinkling lights- of a Saturday night, so once night falls I think you should get down there and mingle.'

'Right,' I murmured, amazed and a bit freaked out by the pace that events were moving.

'We're putting you into a new flat, just to disconnect you from your actual life, so that'll take up the rest of today.' Harry looked at my friends. 'You guys could give her a hand, though I've organised for a couple of mates of mine to help out too.' Hex and Alex were eyeballed. 'I want you two at the Triumph tonight, checking things out.' He looked at me again. 'The most dangerous stage is first up, while Jasper figures out whether he can trust you or not. Pile on the charm, flirt like you have no morals...' He shrugged. 'Do whatever it takes to get him to trust and accept you. It'll get easier.'

I stared at my boss, mulling over what he'd just told me. Despite the fact that I'd either by watched by my friends- who'd I'd trust with my life without a second thought- or senior MI5 officers- who were trained for events just like this- it still felt like I'd been thrown in the deep end. And the pool was filled with sharks.