Agents and Operatives

by KnighteWolfe

A preview of what is to come. Chapter 4 isn't finished yet but its still being worked on.

1. Chapter 1

Totally Spies

Agents and Operatives

Chapter One

It was a Friday night in Beverly Hills and Sam, Alex, and Clover were relaxing in the hot tub at their villa. The trio had just gotten in from another WOOHP mission and was wondering what to do after they tended to their numerous bruises. Alex sighed as the warm water caressed her aching body. This mission had given her more than her usual collection of bumps and bruises due to the fact that her two friends had used her as the bait in a trap to catch the bad guy du jour. Unfortunately the bad guy in question had no compunction in fighting down and dirty with a trained spy of her caliber. Opening her eyes, the caramel skinned beauty glanced at her friends. In her bid to outdo her obnoxious rival Mandy, Clover was busy on the phone chatting with her latest boy toy. From the words she was hearing, Alex figured out that Clover was trying to get the guy in question to take her to Beverly Hills' hottest new teen night club. Shifting her eyes from the blond bombshell to her left to the red-haired brainiac to her right, Alex saw that Sam was busy trying to get ahead in her advanced chemistry class. The tapping of Sam's nails on her laptop was beginning to grate on Alex's nerves. Deciding not to call her friends and fellow spies on the carpet about the less than cavalier treatment she had received at the hands of the senior bad guy, Alex climbed out of the hot tub and dried herself off. Wrapping a towel around her lithe body, Alex wondered again why compared to her friends, she didn't have the curves the other two had. Granted she did have some of her own curves and usually received a fair amount of guy attention, but Alex knew that to some guys she was more of the good looking athletic girlfriend than the drop dead gorgeous Clover, and the smart and sexy Sam. Lost in thought, Alex didn't hear Clover finish her conversation and call out to her.

Feeling just a bit put out and wanting to get away from the others for a bit, Alex went upstairs and flopped onto her bed. Flipping over on her back, the eighteen year old super spy gazed at the ceiling. Making a decision, Alex went to her dresser grabbed a pair of panties and a bra and put them on. Walking over to her closet, she opened the door and scanned the many fashionable outfits before picking a short dress. With her outfit chosen, Alex went back to her dresser and pulled open the second drawer from the bottom. Reaching in, she pulled out a pair of black spandex leggings and slid them over her coltish legs. Once the leggings were on, she donned the dress and went searching along the floor of her closet for a matching pair of high-heeled shoes. Choosing the pair that went with her outfit the best, she returned downstairs. Entering the living room, Alex grabbed a set of keys from the wall hanging key holder. With keys in hand, Alex walked over to the lanai where the hot tub was situated and let the others know she was going out for a bit.

"Where ya going, Alex?", asked Sam as she looked up from her work.

"Out for awhile. I need to get away for a bit. This last mission took more out of me than I thought it would."

"If you wait, we'll all go together.", chimed in Clover as she held the phone away from her ear.

"Nah, I'll be fine by myself. I'll take the car and maybe go for a short drive.", stated Alex as she turned away from the hot tub.

"Okay. Be careful and remember to take your x-powder with you. You never know when Jerry will call us for another mission. Hopefully the bad guys won't start anything else tonight."

"Alright Sam, I'll remember.", said Alex while vowing to leave the accursed thing on her dresser. She didn't want to be disturbed while clearing her thoughts.

Waving by to the two girls still in the tub, hot tub, Alex headed for the garage door. Entering the garage, she reached out

with her left hand and turned on the lights while simultaneously hitting the button to raise the garage door. Once the light had come on, Alex looked at the car parked in the car. The car in question was one of Jerry's WOOHP specials. Grimacing, Alex remembered that she would have to deactivate the tracking device mounted in the car. Opening the door, she adjusted the driver's seat for her comfort.

"Geez, Sam must've been the last one to drive this thing. I'm nowhere near her height and Clover's adjustments are almost the same as mine.", thought the five foot nine beauty as she climbed into the vehicle and pressed the button that adjusted the seat for her comfort.

Ten minutes later, Alex was blasting down the highway in the sporty coupe with the top down and the evening wind rushing through her short black hair. When she reached the street in front of The Groove-the hottest mall in Bev Hills- Alex slowed down and checked out the scene. As usual the place was packed. Alex acknowledged several of her classmates from Beverly High as she cruised through the parking lot. Deciding to skip stopping at the mall, Alex continued on down the road. Twenty minutes later, she saw her destination.

Alex's destiny for the evening was a little hole in the wall-esque club that she had frequented before, usually when she had a lot on her mind and was able to scam some time away from Clover and Sam. The well-dressed bouncer recognized her and passed her through the door with only a cursory glance at her fake ID card (procured from GLADIS for a small to be decided later favor). As Alex entered the club, she heard the sound of fast approaching motorcycles. Turning to see if she recognized the bikers, Alex saw a trio of Triumph Sprint 1050's. The first Triumph was gleaming metallic silver that sparkled in the moonlight. The next bike in line was a Fire-engine red that she thought matched the color of Clover's one-piece spy suit. The last and best looking bike in Alex's opinion was a brilliant Calypso Blue. The rider of this last bike caught her attention because he wore a Lapis Lazuli polo shirt and black slacks that mimicked the blue custom paint job of his full face helmet. The teenager waited half a second for the three riders to doff their protective helmets before entering the building. Alex wanted her usual drink (frozen peach daiquiri with a strawberry twist) and a seat close to the dance floor so she could scope out the guys. Once inside the club proper, Alex stopped by the bar and got her drink before heading for one of the empty tables out the outskirts of the black marble dance floor. Looking out onto the dance floor as she circled the room, Alex saw that it was about half full with a nearly even percentage of guys and girls dancing. Easing into her chosen seat, Alex started to relax and let the dulcet tones of Sade's 'Sweetest Taboo' take her mind off of her day.

Outside, the three bikers Alex had observed outside were having a discussion. The tallest of the trio at six foot two and a half inches tall, Dominic Calvin James (D.C. to his partners) was griping. His two friends: Five foot eleven inches, brown haired and pale skinned Sean Matthew Lyons and six feet even and tanned skinned and blonde Justin Timothy Bolan listened as they walked to the entrance of the club.

"Dammit, why did J-dawg and Trigger Zero have us move up here to Beverly Hills? We were doing fine down in San Diego. We knew a lot of people and had all of our safe houses set up and ready. Up here we've got nada. To top it all off, we're going to be going to Beverly High for school? Didn't we use to demolish them in baseball each year? I know we beat them on a regular basis in soccer.", groused DC.

"Cool it D.C., you know that the bossman was a bit worried after that last job. I think she went to J-Dawg and asked him to pull us out. We made a lot of enemies out of the tangos on that last one. Especially since we didn't hit the target.", stated Sean as he brushed a piece of non-existant lint off of his light apricot-colored sport coat and white slacks.

"Hehehe, Sean; DC is just pissed that his AR-10 and his 6.8 SPC AR-15 haven't made it too our new place yet. You know how anxious he is when he can't rezero his two babies immediately after a move. I'm just happy that we have a respectable sized house now. The last few places have been kind of cramped and we've had to put the majority of our stuff in a high security storage facility vetted by J-Dawg.", joked Justin as they paid their cover charge.

D. C. grumbled a bit more then calmed down and assumed his usual look of studied indifference as he ran a hand through his short curly black hair. Tuning his two buddies out, the eighteen year old scoped out the club and approved of what he saw. The place had a modern classy look with a thick burgundy carpet surrounding the black marble dance floor with dark colored hardwood tiles marking out the walkways. The tables ranged in height from taller tables with granite tops to average height tables with black onyx inlaid alabaster tops supported by thick iron legs with decorative patterns wound into them. With another nod of approval DC brought his attention back to his two friends just as J.T. changed the topic.

"Speaking of J-Dawg, I heard a rumor from some of the guys back at the home office that J-Dawg's three best operators live in Beverly Hills in their own Villa. I also heard from Big Luce that all three are smoking hot. I can't wait to meet them and show them what I can do."

"What about Colleen J.T.? I thought that the two of you were weeks away from an engagement.", commented Matt.

"Nah, we broke up after I caught her with one of your football teammates, Matt. It wasn't pretty. The locker room was a mess when I confronted him.", replied J.T. as he took a swig from his Pina Colada.

"Yeah, I heard about that. He had what: a broken jaw, a shattered leg, a seriously bruised arm, and a cracked rib? You did quite a number on him and all you got was a black eye?", asked D.C. as he hooked a chair with the toe of one size fifteen boot.

J.T., nodded as he took his seat across from Matt and together all three turned their attention to the dance floor as the music started to speed up with a decidedly Latin beat.

Back at the villa, Sam and Clover were kicking back on the couches in the family room. Sam had her head in a romance novel she had been trying to read for the past few weeks. Dressed in a pair of light blue and white lounging pants with a teal blue tank top t-shirt, Sam's red hair stood out in a marked contrast. At a willowy five foot eleven inches, Samantha was the tallest of the spies. Sam was also a slight bit more full-figured than either of her two friends. Often described as willowy, Sam was more than just a full-figured teenager, she was also extremely bright. Keeping a 4.0 GPA, Sam was always in one of the top three spots on the honor roll at Bev High. Not one to just show off her book smarts, Sam was also street smart. Even though that there was no 'official' leader of the spies, Sam often found herself taking a leadership position on missions on behalf of Jerry and WOOHP.

On the other end of the spectrum, feisty blonde Clover was a study in contrasts. Intelligent enough to be on the honor roll, Clover was also very in tune with the 'in-style' crowd. When not on a mission with Alex and Sam, Clover was always on the lookout for ways to one up her main rival, Mandy. It seems that the Mandy/Clover rivalry had been going on since before middle school and wasn't just concentrated on one aspect of their lives. Clover and Mandy competed in anything and everything. Standing a petite five foot eight, Clover always wanted to be the first one through the door in any mission. Sometimes this led to a somewhat bull-in-a-china-shoppish state of mind. At the moment, Clover was wearing dark pink shorts with one of her cheerleader t-shirts. She was also painting her toe and fingernails in a soft shade of yellow that was somewhat muted for her very sunny disposition.

"Hey Sam where'd Alex go? I thought she said she was just going to go for a drive?", asked Clover as she finished her nails and leaned back to appreciate her handiwork.

"I dunno, Clover. She said she was going out for a bit. I can't blame her though; we did use her pretty badly this time around."

"Yeah, I know but to go just for a drive dressed as she is, I don't believe a drive was all she intended. Maybe we should call her and see if she's alright."

Sam put down her book and sighed; Alex wanted to be left alone. That much was apparent to Sam and she respected Alex's privacy enough to not intrude on her solitude. Now Sam knew that she was going to have to dissuade Clover from doing the same thing. Though, before she could start in on her dissuasion tactics, the compact sitting on the end table went off. Happy to have any excuse to change the subject, Sam motioned Clover over as she activated the communication device. The small mirror projected a holographic image of a distinguishably balding older man with a precisely trimmed mustache. Once the image stabilized, the man started to speak; his upper crust English accent coming through the small speaker clearly.

"Hello spies. I hope that the three of you were not badly hurt during this last mission."

"Hi Jerry. How are things at headquarters? The bruises were nothing compared to what could have happened if we hadn't stopped the bad guy. We're alright.", answered Sam.

Sitting at the large desk in his office at WOOHP headquarters, Jerry looked at the monitor and noticed that only two of his well-trained super spies were there. Wondering where the third was, he asked the two on the screen. Clover answered.

"Oh, Alex left earlier and went for a drive. She said that she wanted to get away for a bit. The last mission took a lot out of her. Frankly, we don't blame her. Alex did get used pretty badly and was handcuffed to a table for the last half of the mission."

Jerry agreed with Clover's words. Using Alex as the bait hadn't been his idea but they needed a way to distract the enemy while Sam and Clover had found a way to disable and destroy the criminals' doomsday machine. Pushing that out of his mind for the time being, the head of WOOHP came to the reason whey he called.

"Okay Sam, Clover; when Alex returns home later inform her that starting on Monday the three of you will need to come to headquarters after school so you can get some further training. One of WOOHP's smaller divisions has made a request for your services. They've asked me to allow their best three operatives to train against you to test their teamwork and see if they are fully recovered from their last mission. Just like you they had a rough mission in and of their own.", stated Jerry as he looked at two of his agents.

Sam had unconsciously shook her head in commiseration as she listened to her boss explain about the highlights of the other mission. In a corner of her mind reserved for spy activities, she was already planning different scenarios for the upcoming training session with fellow agents. Wondering what Jerry could tell her about their exercise opponents that wouldn't violate the serious security of WOOHP she asked for specifics on the other agents and the division they worked for. In his office, Jerry looked over his monitor at the middle-aged woman wearing a grey business suit and leaning against the wall. The head of the division had been listening to the conversation going on but not in range of the sensors that would have sent her image over the link to the spies. In her division it was a termination offense if security were breached in a careless manner. Besides it would have been bad tradecraft and her trio of experts would have laughed. Shaking her head in answer to Jerry's unasked question, Natasha curtly informed the head of the organization that he couldn't give his agents more information about her division. Jerry hated the answer but agreed to her request.

As head of the international spy agency known as WOOHP, Jerry knew the name of every division under his command and often received information and reports from each department head. However, out of the numerous agents that made up his organization, Jerry knew that the woman in his office was one of the deadliest agents in the agency. With numerous highly classified operations under her belt, she was the most successful agent in her division. When she had retired from the field upon reaching the age of forty-four, Natasha Michelle Simonov had been promoted to run the division she been a field operative for with Jerry's blessing. Under her command, her division had racked up several successes that had befuddled other field agents. Loyal to WOOHP without question, Natasha's division retained a sense of autonomy that was unquestioned by other department heads.

"Sorry Sam, due to the stringent security measures here I cannot give you any specifics on the agents you'll be training against except to tell you that they are the top operatives in their field just like you and the others are the top in yours. That will have to be enough for you to start your planning."

"We understand the security Jerry and won't allow it to affect us in any way. When Alex returns, I'll pass on the news. Thanks for telling us this Jer."

"You're welcome girls. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more but I have every confidence that you will excel at your training as you have done to date. Talk to you later girls."

Sam and Clover acknowledged their boss before closing the link and discussing what they had been told. At headquarters, Jerry glanced at Natasha in resignation. He knew exactly what division Natasha worked for and couldn't tell his spies about. Natasha and her three operatives were a part of the WOOHP DLJ Division; often pronounced among those in the know as the 'DILJO' division.

"Natasha, you know how I hate keeping anyone in this organization uninformed about things, especially those three. Sam, Alex, and Clover have saved the world and this organization on numerous occasions. If they keep up their work and stay with WOOHP, those three have the chance to become greater than either of us and their predecessors. As it is, they are guaranteed a spot in the WOOHP Hall of Fame when they retire from the field like you did."

"I'm sorry Jerry but that is the way it has to be. You are the one who wrote up the rules and regulations when forming the DLJ Division. In the course of one of our missions, we see more disturbing things that we can't share with other agents. It would spoil the good that this organization does if it were found out by others that the initials for my division stand for 'Dirty Little Jobs'. We in the DILJO division do what we have to do because no one else will. I requested those three because I want to put them in situations where they would have to make the decisions that others have made before them. If they do well in this training, it opens the door for joint operations between DLJ and the other divisions.", answered Natasha in a cool voice.

Jerry grunted his displeasure but knew she was right. He too wondered if either of his spies could do what the operatives for DLJ do every mission. This experiment had been attempted earlier with the spies' predecessors but it hadn't gone well. Now with the things he was hearing from the DLJ's intelligence operatives, it had become time for this to be tried again.

"Maybe this time one of my spies will be able to make the decision needed. Maybe either Alex, Clover, or Sam can make the hardest of all decisions and not be affected.", thought Jerry.

Natasha saw her boss grappling with the dilemma at hand and remembered that in his prime, Jerry was considered to be the absolute deadliest WOOHP agent ever. His record on DLJ missions (what part of it was unclassified enough) was considered to be unreachable. Even now, as the head of WOOHP, many considered him to still be able to pull a trigger or slide a stiletto into somebody's back. Compared to Jerry's record, Natasha's record was nowhere near. However, Natasha knew that her three operatives could be the ones to reach and surpass that pinnacle. To equal or even surpass Jerry's DLJ mission record would put them as the all time most deadly operatives in the annals of their organization for peace.

Dusting off her skirt before rising to her feet, Natasha made ready to leave Jerry's office. Seeing that the boss had rotated his chair to face the viewscreen behind his desk, she guessed that Jerry was reliving some of the things he had to do in pursuit of peace as an operative for WOOHP. Deciding to go ahead and make her departure, Natasha made it to the door before a cleared throat and the sound of Jerry's chair brought her up short. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Jerry was about to say something.

"Natasha, if anything happens to my three super spies in this training, I will hold you and your three operatives responsible and take appropriate action.", stated Jerry in a glacial cold voice.

"I know Jerry, I know. I wouldn't expect anything else."

Natasha shivered uncomfortably as she saw the look in Jerry's eyes that promised what that action would be. Jerry turned his chair back around and waved her away. Once Natasha was gone, he slumped in his chair and went over his mental files of his three spies to see which one, if any of them could do what he knew the DLJ expected when the time came. Sam and Clover came up in his minds eye and he shuddered at what the decision would do to them if they had to make it. Halfway through his mental information on Alex, Jerry knew that without a doubt, Alex would do what was required if she was the one to make the decision. It would affect her as it would affect anyone, but with her personality, Alex would suffer for only a bit before returning to her usual self. At that point, Jerry vowed that if there was ever a mission that would require the decision to take a life to be made by his spies, he would give the choice to Alex to make. Sighing in resignation and hoping that that time and mission would never come, Jerry reached behind him to one of the lower drawers of his desk and opened it. Without looking, he reached in and pulled out a small still full bottle of whiskey and a glass. Pouring a little bit in the glass, he hoisted the glass to his face and eyed the low level of booze and let his mind think back to his younger days.

"GLADIS, may those three get through this training and never have to face that what could tear them apart mentally.", muttered Jerry.

"And to the hope that if Alex ever has to make that decision, there will be somebody there to help her through it other than her friends."

With a quick toss of his hand, Jerry tossed the shot down his throat and winced. Returning the bottle and glass to their place, the head of WOOHP ran his hand over his face and got up from his chair. Turning towards the small door that lead to his apartment, Jerry decided to get some sleep before facing another day. As he entered his living space, Jerry wondered where Alex was at that moment and what was going through her head.

While Jerry was wondering, the person he was wondering about was having a ball. Alex had been at the club for about three hours and was enjoying herself immensely. She was on her third daiquiri and had been on the dance floor a few times. With all the training and athletics Alex did, her lithe toned body had surpassed the energy of her dance partners and they had all stepped away from the whirlwind. Now taking a breather and letting her feet rest for a bit, Alex was watching some of the other patrons of the nightspot and seeing how their energy would compare to her own. Three guys off to her right had caught Alex's attention as their energy reserves kept them moving as they danced with multiple partners. Every so often, one of the three would stroll over to the bar and bring back more refreshment for his two buddies. Deciding to test one of the guys she had been watching to see if he could keep up, Alex waited until the next time one of them headed for the bar. This time the tall one in the blue shirt and black pants was the runner. Rising to her feet and making her way in his general direction, she timed it so that she arrived at the bar a couple of seconds after he did. Tapping him on the shoulder, Alex waited for the fellow to turn and face her before saying anything.

It was his turn to get the drinks and D.C. was a bit relieved to get away from the girls who had been dancing with him and his friends. To him they were like every other club girl he had met; clingy, superficial, and after a time a bit annoying. All they could do was chatter aimlessly about subjects that had no interest to him but he feigned his interest just to make them feel okay. As he went to retrieve the next round of refreshment, D.C.'s trained eyes roamed over the ground cataloging every person in his line of sight as either a threat or not. Most of the people in the room were of no threat to him and his partners so he immediately discarded them from his mental list. A few of the hard cases who kept looking at him took in the calm grey eyes and the blatant 'don't even think about messing with me and my buddies' scowl and soon found their attention was devoted elsewhere. Midway across the room, Dominic caught a look of cool interest from a set of soft onyx eyes framed by a brown-skinned face atop an athletic body wrapped in a short dress, black spandex leggings with closed toe heels. Intrigued by the interest shown, D.C. made a mental note to keep an eye on her. His consciousness was telling him that it was because she could pose a threat but his subconscious-ness disagreed and told him that his interest was more because of her looks.

Watching her rise from her seat, D.C. shifted from casually watching to threat assessment and observation. Once he arrived at the bar, he got the bartenders' attention while letting his senses inform him where in the room the girl was. While he was giving the busy bartender his order, his highly attuned senses let him know that the watchful woman had arrived at the bar. When the expected tap on his shoulder came, D.C. turned around and subtly raised himself up on the balls of his feet, ready to defend himself if needed.

"Yes?"

Alex had watched the man turn and her trained eyes caught his subtle balance shift and wondered what had brought about that. Hearing his voice, she cleared her head and continued on with what she had planned while showing him what she hoped was a non-threatening posture. Up close, Alex could see that the guy was taller than her and looked to be in even better shape than she had first guessed. At least he wasn't one of the muscle bound guys who spent more time flexing than talking. Clearing her suddenly tight throat, Alex went into her spiel.

"Excuse me, I've been watching you and noticed that you seem to have a lot of energy. I wonder if you would care to dance with me for a bit.", asked Alex.

Upon hearing the young lady, D.C. had relaxed and shifted to patient awareness. She just wanted to dance. Obviously, this girl had been observing him and his partners and wondered if either of them was possessed of enough stamina to keep up with her. He chuckled a bit and sized her up. She seemed fit enough and he had watched her dance many of the other guys in the club into the ground. D.C. decided to humor her and submit to her test. Besides, she looked cute.

"Sure, no problem. Let me just get these drinks over to my friends and I'll see you on the dance floor. Before I do that though I would like to know your name.", he answered as the bartender returned with the drinks he had ordered.

"Oh, I'm sorry my name is Alex."

"My name is Dominic but you can call me D.C."

Alex nodded and watched as D.C. strolled towards his friends. Stopping a few feet away from the bar, he turned back in her direction and nodded his head in the direction of the table where J.T. and Sean were, indicating that she should follow him. Inwardly cheering herself on but outwardly calm, Alex followed him to the table and met his friends and the quartet of girls who were there. Immediately feeling the hostile glances cast her way by the other females, Alex ignored them and concentrated on meeting D.C.'s friends. Dominic had watched Alex's reaction to the girls at the table and had approved when she didn't react to their frowns. Placing the drinks on the table in front of his friends, D.C. joked in a supercilious waiter voice.

"Here is another Pina Colada for you kind sir. A Strawberry Margarita for your friend here, and a Raspberry Avalanche Twist for myself. Now if you'll excuse me gentlemen, I have been asked by this lovely young lady to adjourn to the dance floor where we can show each other our entire repertoire."

J.T. and Sean cracked up as they watched D.C give a short bow and offer the lady an arm. Alex smiled and gave a short curtsy to let them know that she caught the joke. Accepting the arm, she let her new found dance partner escort her to the dance floor. Back at the table, J.T. and Sean hung out and entertained the women gathered around their table. Turning their attention from D.C. and Alex, the two guys started talking to each other about the school they were going to start attending on Monday. That conversation continued until J.T.'s cell phone rang. Sean watched as his friend answered. Figuring that it was a call from one of J.T.'s old flames, he was a bit surprised when his blonde friend stiffened and schooled his face into an emotionless mask. Sean had a feeling he knew the identity of the caller on the other end of the line. Only one person could cause that sort of reaction in all three of them whenever she called. Raising an eyebrow, Sean's unasked question was answered when J.T. gave one quick nod. Taking a sip from his drink to cover his reaction from the intoxicated guests at their table, he cast his eyes in the direction of the couple on the dance floor. Getting a negative shake of the head, he relaxed a bit since it seemed that whatever was being said meant that there was no mission scheduled for the three of them this night.

On the dance floor, oblivious to the interplay going on at the table, D.C. was having fun. Alex had tested his stamina a few times with nonstop movements to some of the faster songs being played by the deejay and he had easily kept up with her without pressing himself. Now as he studied the girl in front of him, D.C. somehow knew that she was setting up for a really fast paced song to push him to his limits to see if he had actually been worth dancing with. He was of two minds of this. His first thoughts were that she was pretty impressive and was in very good condition. A separate part of his mind had taken into account her slim athletic figure and deduced that Alex was a soccer player like himself. Deciding to see if he was right, D.C. let his body move with the new up-tempo beat and asked a question.

"Which position do you play midfield, goalie, striker, or defender? I'm a midfielder myself."

Alex had been so intent on studying her dancing partner that the question, asked without any hint of lost breath, almost made her stop. Still moving and changing her own movements, she wondered how he had figured that out.

"It's something in your body movements that gives it away. I guess soccer players move differently on the dance floor than other athletes. I only noticed it because I play as well.", answered D.C. with a carefree shrug of his shoulders.

"I see, well if you really want to know, I play midfield for Beverly High on the girls varsity team.", stated Alex.

"Hmm, Beverly High; J.T., Sean, and I will be starting there on Monday. Like I said earlier, our job brought us up here and our parents figured that it would be best if the three of us lived together while we attended school. Our boss agreed and our company bought us a house. The three of us have only been in town for a few days so some of our co-workers furnished the house for us while we transferred all our stuff up here. Tonight will be our first night in the new place. Tomorrow we plan on starting the grill and hanging out for a bit with our boss and co-workers in sort of a house warming party. You and your friends are invited if you want to.", said D.C.

Alex thought for a minute. She'd have to talk to Sam and Clover about the invitation when she returned home. Hopefully Jerry wouldn't need them for a mission for the next few days. Thinking for a few minutes more, Alex figured that a barbeque would be a great way for the three of them to let relax a little bit more from this latest mission. She also guessed that if she came home way late, Sam and Clover would forgive her when she told them about meeting D.C. and his friends.

"Knowing Clover the way I do, she would jump at the chance to meet some new guys. Especially when she finds out that they'd be starting at our school on Monday. Anything that would give her a leg up against Mandy, makes Clover extremely satisfied.", thought Alex.

As she continued with her train of thought, another part of her mind mentally compared D.C. and his friends to each other and came up with a decision. No matter what happened with her friends, Alex wanted to know D.C on a whole nother level. Once this realization sunk in, Alex narrowed her eyes for a second and unconsciously vowed to keep between Clover and D.C. Bringing her attention back to the present, she saw that her partner was still waiting patiently for an answer to his invitation.

Dominic watched as various expressions flitted across Alex's face in a matter of seconds and guessed that she was having a mental discussion behind her pretty features. When her pretty eyes narrowed, D.C. shifted into a defensive posture as he continued to move to the music. It only lasted for a second before; Alex saw his stance and realized he was reacting to her involuntarily narrowed eyes. Changing her own stance once again to project a non-threatening aspect, Alex waited for D.C. to shift to a more relaxed position before answering his question.

"I accept the invitation but I'll have to see what my friends say. Even if they decline the invitation, I'll still come. Where is the house that your company bought?", asked Alex as the music and lights around them changed.

"We don't know the exact address but we do know is about seven houses up the block from this beautifully done villa with a lanai out back. When we drove up there to find our house, we passed this villa and noticed that nobody was home. As we left the house to grab a bite to eat before coming here, we passed the villa again and this time saw that the owners had come back and were out on the lanai. Do you know who lives there?", stated D.C. offhandedly.

Alex almost froze; she knew exactly who lived in the house he was describing. D.C. was talking about the villa where she, Clover, Sam lived. Nodding her head in answer to his question, Alex thought back to her time in the hot tub with her friends. She hadn't heard any motorcycles ride past during that time but then she might have been a bit more exhausted than she thought and might've heard them and put the sound out of her mind. Shifting her thoughts to the neighborhood surrounding the villa, she realized that the house D.C. and his friends would be living in was just a short walk up the street from their villa.

"I know that general area pretty well so it shouldn't take me too much time to find your place. Is there anything you'd want my friends and I to bring if they accept your invitation?"

"Nah, we should have everything covered. I'll be doing the one doing the grilling. So just bring your appetite; if your friends decide to come tell them to bring their appetites as well. By the way, is there anything that either you or they don't eat?"

Chuckling at D.C.'s attempt to be politically correct about asking if her, Sam, or Clover were vegetarians; Alex shook her head and grinned.

"If you cook it, then we'll eat it. And that's a promise."

D.C. nodded and mentally revised his shopping list for what he was going to be cooking. He knew that Natasha preferred to eat chicken and vegetables instead of meat but she'd occasionally try venison and she loved grilled fish. D.C. also made sure that there would be at least two giant sized coolers. One of which was going to contain the alcoholic beverages while the other contained stuff, like water, juice, tea, and soda.

"I'll have to make sure that we get somebody to play bartender. ", thought D.C.

At that moment the music changed from the fast paced dance tunes that had been playing for the last several minutes to something slower and more relaxed. Adapting his movements to the beat in seconds, D.C. slowed down. It took him a half a second more to realize that the song the deejay had just started to play was one of his favorite slow songs of all time. Extending his left hand to Alex with a slight twinkle in his eyes, D.C. indicated that they should show the others on the dance floor how to dance to Sade's 'No Ordinary Love'. After a moment's hesitation, Alex accepted the extended hand and stepped into D.C.'s arms. In the instant their bodies touched, a lightly electrifying impulse flowed through them and connected them on a much higher plateau. Looking into the soft grey eyes with her black ones, Alex could tell that Dominic had felt the connection himself. Alex could also tell that he had seen that she had felt the connection as well. Wondering what this meant, she almost pulled away but something told her to relax into the warm arms now enveloping her.

Across the room J.T. had finished with his phone call and had explained everything to Sean. Informing him that J-Dawg had accepted Natasha's request, he turned towards the dance floor and started to raise his arm to get D.C.'s attention. He stopped when he saw what was transpiring on the dance floor. Catching a confused and question glance from Sean; he jerked his head towards the couple.

"I do think that Dominic is on the brink of falling hard for this girl."

"What makes you say that, Justin?", asked Sean as he wriggled out from under the girl languidly draped over his arm.

"Take a look out there and tell me what you see. Last time I saw that emotion on his face was when D.C. started going with Sheila Price.

Sean winced, that had been a bad one. After Sheila and Dominic had broken up, It had taken both Sean,J.T. and almost all the off duty operatives of the WOOHP Dirty Little Jobs Division to keep D.C. from going after Sheila's new boyfriend. D.C. had been so furious that Jerry had immediately sent them on a grueling search and destroy mission with the least amount of information. That had been successful in diverting Dominic's fury from the innocent guy to a guilty target. Although the end of that mission was a bit more than either Sean or J.T. had anticipated.

When they were on termination missions; Sean was the knife expert, J.T. was the pistol expert, while D.C. was the team sniper. On that mission, D.C. had followed their target to one of his safe houses and had used his handgun to kill the target from point blank range with one shot to the targets' head from less than three feet away. J.T. and Sean had had to crash their getaway car into the house in order to grab their friend and escape. In the process the trio ended up wiping out the targets' organization. Publicly, Jerry had praised them and awarded them medals. Privately he had chewed Dominic out for acting rashly and nearly ending the lives of innocents. D.C. had taken the lecture without a hint of emotion and that had worried Natasha. Once Jerry had finished disciplining D.C., she had taken the team off active status and sent them on a vacation to relax. Shaking off the memory, Sean glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearing three in the morning.

"Hey Justin, go and remind Mr. Smooth Operator that we need him to be wide-eyed and bushy-tailed when he's working the grill tomorrow. I'd rather not have to deal with a burnt double cheese and bacon burger because he's half-asleep.", commented Sean as he straightened up.

J.T. agreed and both boys made their excuses and apologies to those still gathered around their table and made their way towards the pair. As they approached the two, the deejay announced that it was getting close to closing time and that the bartenders were setting up for their 'last call' orders. In front of his two friends, Dominic and Alex were still moving with the music sharing an unexplained but growing connection. Dominic's well trained ears were already attuned to the footsteps of his partners through long years of training and their lasting friendship. Just as they knew Dominic's size fifteen footsteps, he knew when the twelve and a half inch long feet of J.T. and the thirteen inch feet of Sean stepped from the deep carpet to the marble dance floor and was able to follow their route without looking. He waited till the music crescendoed to its coda before slowly stepping back from his partner.

Alex was confused, why was he stepping away from her? For some unknown reason the spy felt bereft of a familiar warmness she had only felt once or twice before. Now watching D.C. walk away, she felt a little lost. Trying to stop that train of thought, Alex brought her wrist up to where she could check the time. At first the numbers didn't gel into her subconsicousness, and then her mind focused on the watch hands again.

"Oh shit! It's three in the morning. Ohmigawd, Sam and Clover are going to kill me! I didn't plan on being out this late!", exclaimed Alex as she started to rush off.

Before she took two steps, Alex felt a hand grasp her wrist, turned and found herself looking into D.C.'s stormy grey eyes. Understanding the unspoken question, Alex told Dominic that she would be at the barbeque the next day and would invite her friends. Dominic watched as Alex dashed out of the club. He sighed and turned to his buddies. Sean and J.T. looked at him with looks of commiseration. J.T. patted D.C. on the back as they headed for the door to the dismay of the girls still in the club.

"D.C., at least you found an interesting girl tonight. Both Sean and I struck out. None of the ladies at out table were remotely interesting. ", stated Justin as they left the club and walked into the cool evening.

Making their way over to their bikes, the trio pulled out their keys. When he arrived at his bike, Sean inserted his key in the ignition. Picking up the helmet that matched his red bike, he put it on and opened the face shield before turning to J.T. J.T. pulled his bike off its stand and turned his key to the start position before making sure his transmission was in neutral. Squeezing the clutch with his left hand, J.T. used his right thumb to hit the starter switch. As he was twisting his throttle to idle his engine, J.T. heard D.C.'s bike start. Looking back at Sean, he saw that his friend in the red helmet was starting his bike.

Soon all three Sprints were idling in unison. Each triple-cylinder bike blasting out its own burble unique to each of their owners. With one last glance at each other, the three riders toed the bikes into first gear, added some gas and took off down the road.

Meanwhile, back at the spies' villa, Sam was sitting on the couch with the lights dimmed. She wasn't happy that her friend was as late as she presently was. It was a mutual agreement between the three that if either of them went out on their own, they were to be back by a certain time. Usually, Alex was the most punctual and was often the one sitting in Sam's place in the chair facing the door with her arms crossed.

In place of her usual smile, there was a frown on Sam's face. She had been expecting Alex to pull up and enter the house at a quarter after two in the morning. Hearing the familiar sound of the car, Sam got up and made her way to the door that led from the house into the garage and waited. As she pulled into the garage, Alex saw that the living room lights were still on but not as bright as they usually were. Remembering how Clover usually tried to sneak in when she was late, Alex turned the headlights off and cut the engine. Using momentum, she coasted the vehicle into its place in the garage before slowly and quietly applying the brakes to bring the car to a silent stop. Taking the key out of the ignition and undoing her seatbelt, Alex opened the car door as slowly and quietly as she could. Once she was out of the car, she gently closed it so that it wouldn't make a loud noise when it hit its latches. Reaching down, she undid the straps of her shoes and slid her feet out of them.

Carrying her shoes in her hand, Alex made her way to the interior garage door. Before she put her hand on the knob she turned off the garage light and closed the garage door, hoping that neither Clover nor Sam could hear it closing. Once the garage door was closed, the teen entered the house. So intent on not waking anyone up, Alex didn't notice Sam standing right across the hallway.

Sam stood silently and watched as Alex surreptitiously eased the door closed and locked it. Leaning against the wall with her arms still crossed over her chest, she waited till Alex thought she had gotten in without waking anyone. Seeing the relieved grin on Alex's face, she cleared her throat.

Alex was feeling giddy, she had made it home and into the house without making too much noise. Letting a celebratory relieved grin cross her face she started to make her way towards the stairs and her bedroom. She hadn't gone two steps when she heard Sam clear her throat. Whirling around to see if it was Clover (the usual night owl), Alex froze when she recognized Sam's red hair and five foot eleven inch height.

"Ahh, Sam I can explain.", started Alex but the other girl cut her off.

"You're waay late, Alex. Your explanation better be a good one and it better not be that the car broke down.", snapped Sam.

"The car is fine it's just that I got to having such a good time that I lost track of time. I meant to call…."

"No you didn't. You didn't take your x-powder even after I specifically told you to take it. I bet you'd planned to leave it here from the beginning.", Sam stated as she again cut Alex off.

Meekly nodding her head, Alex allowed Sam to chastise her for not following procedure. She hoped that her friend would run out of steam soon but it didn't look like she was going to live this down for awhile. Resigning herself to the lecture, Alex jerked her head around when her friend and fellow spy mentioned their boss.

"I see that got your attention, Alex. Now do you understand the reasoning behind taking your x-powder with you whenever you go out?"

"Forget about the x-powder lesson. I've heard it too many times already. What did Jerry say when he called?"

Sam sighed, she knew she was being a bit harsh but the girl had to realize that if the call from Jerry had been about a mission, they would have been down a third of their strength. And that would be the difference in winning or losing to their enemies and opponents. Deciding to let the lecture drop, she told Alex that Jerry had informed them to be at WOOHP Headquarters after school on Monday for their training with some other agents from another division. When Alex nodded her understanding about the training scheduled for Monday afternoon, Sam started to let her go but then asked how and why her time conscious friend had lost track of time.

"Oh, I met three really cute guys at the club I went to and ended up dancing most of the night away with one of them.", answered Alex.

Before she could go into further detail there was the sound of bare feet slapping against the stairs as they came down in a hurry. When Sam looked at Alex and shook her head, Alex knew what she was thinking.

"That's our Clover for us. Whenever she hears the words cute and boys in the same sentence, she rushes to find out more. Even completely asleep and upstairs, she heard me say the magic words and here she is.", thought Alex while trying to stifle a grin.

A sleepy -but alert- Clover came around the corner and looked blearily at her two friends. Looking from one to the other she tried to find out which of them had said the words that caught her attention.

"Did somebody say cute boys? I thought I heard somebody say cute boys. Oh hi Alex, why are you so late in getting home?", asked Clover as she yawned.

Sam giggled while Alex grinned. That simple statement from their friend told them what state of mind she was in. Glancing at Sam, Alex went ahead and restarted her story. It took longer to tell than it should have because Clover kept asking questions about the guys Alex had met. Finally, exhausted and sleepy she snapped at Clover.

"If Ya Wanna Find Out More About Them, Just Ask Them Tomorrow!"

Sam and Clover looked at each other. Tomorrow, what was going on tomorrow? This was something new that Alex was getting to. Sam asked Alex about it.

"Because D.C. invited me and my friends to their house, they're having a cookout and D.C. is the one doing the cooking?"

"A cookout, why a cookout?", asked Clover.

"Yeah, why a barbeque, Alex?", repeated Sam.

Alex sighed; she really wanted to get out of her clothes and go to bed. She wanted to be wide awake when she saw Dominic at the barbeque.

"Because, their bosses and co-workers are having a house warming party for them, is that all? Are you gonna go with me or are you gonna to stay here? Tomorrow's an off day and we can fully enjoy it.", said Alex as she watched the other two for reactions.

Sam and Clover looked at each other and in that millisecond glance, a wealth of information passed between them. Before they could say anything, Alex added what she thought was the kicker.

"Oh and Clover, D.C. and his friends will be starting at Beverly High on Monday. If you want to get the jump on Mandy in getting to know these guys a bit better you might want to come."

"As long as you leave D.C. alone that is, Clover. He's going to be mine and I'm not sharing him with anybody.", came the sudden and unbidden vicious thought to Alex's mind.

As she had expected, Alex saw a new light come into Clover's sleepy eyes. Standing on Clover's right side, Sam saw that Alex was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. Stepping in before Clover could ask another question, she took a hold of Alex's shoulder and gently propelled her towards the stairs while telling her to go and get some sleep. Alex sleepily muttered a reply and trudged in the direction of the stairs.

Once in her bedroom, Alex undid her dress and slid out of it leaving her wearing only the leggings and her bra. Placing her thumbs inside the waistband of the form-fitting spandex, the long-limbed teen pushed them down her legs, wiggling from side to side as she did so. Once the leggings had puddled at her feet, she stepped out of the pile and made her way to her dresser. A third of the way their, the five foot nine teen stumbled. Deciding that she could sleep in her present attire this once, Alex changed direction and fumbled her way to her bed. Upon reaching her full-sized bed, Alex dropped her underwear attired body on top of the fluffy comforter her mom had sent her awhile back. Crawling towards her trio of pillows, Alex yawned again and slid her body underneath the whimsically decorated sheets. Once she had burrowed under her sheets to her satisfaction, Alex reached out and hit the remote light switch and the gaily decorated room was drenched in darkness. The only light showing was a dim soccer ball night light. One of the last thoughts Alex had before she drifted off in the arms of Mr. Sandman was whether or not she should wear her swimsuit of a pair of shorts and a tank top to the barbeque tomorrow.

It was a pretty day and the three WOOHP operatives were taking it all in stride. J.T. was sweeping the back deck where the grill was while Sean was setting up the stereo system for the afternoon's entertainment. D.C. had been cleaning off the grill but finished earlier than he thought and left to go downstairs and work on a project of his in their basement work room. The guys weren't expecting their first few guests till after twelve and they knew that there was a ninety percent chance of Natasha showing up first. She usually wanted a moment of their time to reiterate the point about not blowing their covers.

To their peers Dominic Calvin James, Sean Matthew Lyons, and Justin Timothy Bolan were to appear as everyday high school students. That part of their cover was made easier by the fact that the trio was actual high school students. However, under their youthful appearances D.C., J.T., and Sean were members of the WOOHP assassination team 'Foxfire'.

J.T. finished sweeping and wiped the sweat that had gathered on his forehead off with the back of his left hand. Glancing around the backyard, he noticed that the weatherproof speakers in the stained wood gazebo were just starting to come on.

"Sean must've gotten everything hooked up early this morning. I know that when we got back from the club last night, the wiring for expanding the stereo system to the gazebo was still scattered around the living room. They were gone when I woke up this morning.", thought Justin as he put the broom away.

Inside the house, Sean had the stereo on while he was loading up the cd changer with some of their favorite albums. Stretched out on his side in the game room, he was using his eyes to search through the case holding several hundred compact discs. He knew that each of the trio had their own tastes in music. Sean was partial to easy listening music. He liked to think that it helped him study and relax after a mission. Justin like techno and trance music with a bit of Jazz mixed in for relaxation. For Dominic, he had an eclectic taste in music: international, hip hop, classical, gospel, and some reggae and soca thrown in for a touch of the islands. Sean knew that their boss Natasha was a big heavy metal music fan so he had some Guns 'N' Roses and Metallica ready for her. Natasha also was partial to music from her Russian homeland. Even though she spoke nearly accentless English, whenever she was tired her accent thickened. Sometimes it thickened to the point where she was just about indecipherable to everyone around her. Natasha also had a point of slipping into her native language whenever she was angry at Sean and his partners for some screw-up. Fortunately all three members of the Foxfire assassination squad all spoke some dialect of Russian and were able to understand their boss when she got into a rage. In addition to Russian, the guys spoke several different languages fluently. Other languages were spoken conversationally by Sean and his two friends while some languages they only knew a few important phrases.

Bringing his attention back to the job at hand, Sean lifted his head when he heard J.T. come inside. Turning to face him, he asked where their chef was. Justin answered that he didn't know/

"Well, I thought I heard the Audi leaving the garage earlier but I might be mistaken.", shrugged Justin.

"He might have gone to get some more food and beverages for the party. I do know that after he finished with the grill, D.C. went downstairs to the range. I was sure I heard him checking out both his .308 Winchester Magnum and his 6.8 SPC Remington for a bit.", returned Sean.

"Yeah, I heard that too. But I was sure I also heard him testing out some of the new stuff he got the other day. "

Sean nodded then, after placing the last of the chosen music selections in the changer, rose to his feet and dusted off his sweatpants. Deciding to not worry about Dominic, he gave his partner a friendly punch in the shoulder then headed for the stairs so he could jump in the shower before getting ready for the cookout. With a few last words exchanged between them, Justin watched as Sean headed up to get cleaned up and dressed before going towards the den. Dropping onto the couch, he kicked back and looked through the skylight at the blue sky above and let his thoughts drift back to missions long past.

Down the street at the spies' villa Alex had been filled with excitement ever since she had woken up. After eating a hurried breakfast of cereal, orange juice, and a bagel with raspberry jam; the dark haired spy had rushed back upstairs to her room to try and find something to wear. Going through her substantial wardrobe, she began to get a bit frantic because she couldn't find anything to wear. Her curses and grunts of frustration woke up Sam who showed up at the door to Alex's room with a scowl that could cut metal.

"Alex; its eleven in the morning. I know you're anxious to go to the cookout but it's later this afternoon. Can't you wait to find an outfit till then? I'm still a bit sleepy after waiting for you half the damn night. Give it a rest, Alex. You'll see your Prince Charming this afternoon.", yawned Sam.

"Sam, you don't understand. I want to look my best even if it's a just a casual cookout. Besides if you had seen Dominic and his friends you'd be just as anxious as I am. And we're not even going to bring up the anything about Clover if she had been with me last night.", countered Alex with her head still in her closet.

Sam grumbled something under her breath before dropping the subject as a lost cause and wandered away muttering something about 'cute guys and eager beavers' that Alex chose to ignore. Not finding anything in her closet, Alex shifted her search to her dresser. Burrowing through her dresser drawers like a dog digging up a bone, the raven haired teen sent clothes flying in each direction till her usually clean room looked as if a class five hurricane had ripped through it.

Narrowing her eyes and grinding her teeth, Alex heard a fully awake Sam talking to a just awakened Clover in the kitchen. Closing her eyes for a second and calming down, Alex decided to run to the boutique a moment to find just the right outfit. Changing into a pair of teal biker shorts and throwing a black t-shirt over her teal sports bra, Alex grabbed her wallet and slid her feet into a pair of non descript tennis shoes and ran downstairs.

In the kitchen, Sam had just finished talking to Clover about Alex and the cookout when the brown-skinned teen rushed through the kitchen towards the garage, or attempted too. Not fully awake and not paying much attention to the footsteps rushing over the linoleum kitchen tile, Clover stepped over to the refrigerator to grab one of the yogurt containers within when she collided headlong with a rushing Alex. The two tumbled to the floor exchanging exclamations of pain and surprise.

Jumping to her feet after disentangling herself from Clover, Alex muttered a quick apology and continued on her way. Behind her she could her two friends: Clover was cursing while Sam was checking to see if the blonde stretched out on the floor was alright. In the garage, Alex shied away from the keys to the car and passed up grabbing her WOOHP issue motorcycle for the quick ride. Instead she scampered over to the trio of mountain bikes, grabbed hers and was out the garage door ninety seconds after the collision in the kitchen.

Back in the kitchen the bedlam had calmed down a bit. Clover was okay and had picked up the unopened yogurt from where she had dropped it. Fully awake now and with minimal bruises, Clover had opened up the small container and was spooning the first bit of the strawberry-banana yogurt into her mouth. Looking over the breakfast bar at Sam as she sipped her Saturday morning latte, she saw a wry grin on the face of the tall redhead. Clover knew what was going through her friends' mind. There had been many a morning where the situation that had just happened had been reversed with Alex getting knocked over as Clover sprinted out the door.

"Don't say anything, Sam. I know what you're thinking.", Clover grumbled good-naturedly.

Trying to look innocent (and failing, badly), Sam smothered a chuckle that could have quickly grown into an out and out laugh. Finishing her cup, Sam turned to the sink and carefully rinsed out the mug before putting it away. With one last glance at Clover (who was now lost in her own morning thoughts and enjoying her yogurt), Sam headed into the den and flopped down on the couch. Reaching for the remote for the stereo system without looking she crossed her legs at the ankle and turned on the radio. Once it was on and the volume set, she put the remote down on the end table and crossed her arms behind her head. Mentally shifting her mind from what had transpired in the kitchen to more mundane matters. Sam didn't hear Clover go out onto the back porch with her yogurt.

Across town at the Groove, Alex was hurriedly striding from one store to another trying to find the perfect short set to wear to the cookout. She didn't want anything too dressy but Alex didn't want anything too casual either. She finally settled on a pair of knee length shorts in a nice pastel green color and a soft cotton shirt in a breezy shade of yellow. After trying the outfit on and examining herself in the mirror, Alex figured that the colors set off her skin tone pretty well. Paying for the set and heading out of the shop, Alex was feeling good at her choices. Everything was fine until she heard a familiar annoying laugh behind her as she passed the food court.

"Well shit its Mandy. Oh great and what had turned out to be a good day so far has taken a turn for the worse.", mentally fumed Alex.

Turning around Alex saw Clover's main nemesis. As usual, Mandy was dressed exceedingly well in a silk plum colored long-sleeved blouse, black skirt, and heeled calf-high leather boots. Standing slightly behind Mandy were her two lackeys who followed her just about everywhere. Alex sighed in resignation. Mandy had probably already seen the bag she was trying to hide behind her legs.

"Umm, hi Mandy, how's things going?", asked Alex casually.

Mandy tossed her long-black hair and snorted in her usual fashion. Before deigning to answer, she glanced at Alex.

"Everything is going fine for me as usual, Alex. How about you?", answered Mandy.

Alex knew a loaded question when she heard one and really didn't want to answer. However it would have been rude of her to not answer and Mandy would've made sure to torment her about it at school on Monday.

"I'm fine Mandy. Umm, but I'm kinda in a hurry and really can't stay and talk for a bit. I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Oh, in a hurry? What's your hurry, Alex? I don't see your two loser friends with you so I take it that you're by yourself."

"Geez, she sure is the master of the obvious, isn't she?", thought Alex.

"Oh yeah, I just made this quick run to get an outfit to wear to a get together later today. As it is Mandy, I'm kind of behind schedule here so can we finish this conversation at another time.", stated Alex as she stole a surreptitious look at her watch.

Mandy stared at Alex for a while before gracefully turning on her heel and striding off into the distance. With her two faithful friends following in trail, Mandy walked a short distance away before turning a corner. Looking back towards the direction she had just come from, she held up one finger to her two friends to quiet any questions they might have. Mandy had a gut feeling that Alex was trying to hide something from her with her rude and hurried conversation. It galled her to think that one of the friends of her arch rival knew something that she didn't. Curious like a cat and wanting to one up Clover and her friends at every chance she could, Mandy wanted to know what Alex was hiding. If this thing about a get together was right, how come she – one of the richest and most popular students at Beverly High – didn't know about it? And if Alex knew about it, there was a definite chance that Sam knew and an even better chance that Clover knew about it. Around school Alex was known as one of the most blabber-mouthed students there was.

Alex couldn't keep a secret even if you paid her.

Watching Alex dash off, Mandy leaned against the wall and contemplated her next actions. Deciding quickly, she pointed to the girl on the right. Her friend stiffened and waited for whatever Mandy was going to say next.

"You, follow her and find out exactly what's going on with Alex and her friends. Find out all about this little get together she mentioned. Once you do that, call me immediately.", snapped Mandy.

"Yes Mandy, I'll find out for you.", replied the girl before starting off in Alex's direction.

Once her follower had disappeared in the throng of guys and girls cruising the mall, Mandy turned to the second girl and told her to find out about anything new going on in Beverly Hills.

"Especially if it involves those losers. Whatever it is I want to know as soon as possible.", added Mandy.

The girl thought for a second then nodded and stepped away to make a call, leaving Mandy to continue her leaning.

"Alex if you think you and your friends can hide something from me, you're badly mistaken. This is MY city and I either know everything going on or soon will know what is going on. You can't keep this from me forever. I will find out and I will turn it to my advantage!", thought Mandy as she pushed herself off the wall and continued her mall-trawling.

Outside the mall and away from her confrontation with Mandy the snake, Alex relaxed and unchained her mountain bike from the bike rack. Putting the straps of the bag with her purchases on the handlebar, she mounted the bike and pedaled away from the popular teen hangout. Shifting from the easiest gear on the twelve speed bike to its hardest, she increased her speed. Unknown to her, Alex was being trailed by the girl Mandy had sent to find out more about what she had brought up. Unlike Alex, Mandy's friend had gotten into Mandy's car. Away from the mall, she relaxed a bit but kept her feet pumping as she headed in the direction of their shared villa. About fifteen minutes later, Alex turned onto their street and headed in the direction of home. Still behind her the car made the same turn while keeping Alex in sight.

Midway down the street, Alex looked over at the house that had been described to her the previous night. It was off to her right and a part of her mind acknowledged that whoever built the house did a damn fine job of it. As she approached she saw one of the guys and recognized Justin as he stood in the open garage. Stifling her original impulse to stop and inquire as to where his friend Dominic was, Alex just waved as she passed by.

Justin had just entered the garage from the house when he saw Alex pass by. At first he didn't recognize the girl as she pedaled past, but when she raised a hand and waved J.T. recognized her slim athletic figure and waved back. When she had passed out of his sight, Justin turned to the large garage and took stock of the vehicles inside. Parked along one wall were the three Triumph Sprints. Next to them were a trio of Triumph Tiger dual purpose bikes in Dark Orange, Midnight Black, and the same Calypso Blue as D.C.'s Sprint 1050. While the 1050's were their personal sport touring bikes, the Tigers were the trio's motorcycles to complement their cover as couriers. They were often taken off road when the guys got a chance to go trail riding. The Tigers also were the best way to get around on the land that Justin's family owned. Once a month, Justin's parents invited the boys to camp out on their land for stress relief. After their last harrowing mission, the boys had gone straight to their old house in San Diego, grabbed their Tigers and lit out for the country.

Also parked in the garage were three cars. One was Justin's green Nissan 300ZX convertible. It had been modified with the addition of a twin turbo system, a big brake kit from Baer, a quadruple Tubi exhaust system exhaling through twin Magnaflow performance mufflers. In addition to those things, the Nissan had a set of nineteen inch Yokohama tires wrapped around a set of one piece, seven spoke Rota wheels. Inside the car the interior had been modified with the addition of a wicked stereo system consisting of a pair of fifteen inch subwoofers, a thousand watt amp, and a considerable crossover. A seven inch Clarion LCD screen had been added on the passengers' side in the spot once occupied by the glove compartment. Next to his bike, Justin treasured his car. It had belonged to his older brother Samuel and when he had gotten married to his fiancée Barbara; Samuel had given it to him when he was fourteen years old.

Next to J.T.'s Z-car was Sean's gunmetal grey Audi TT Quattro. Like the Nissan, Sean had modified his Audi. Unlike the Nissan, the Audi had a big honkin' single turbo system that really moved that little car. A pair of Bride racing seats and Takata harnesses with a similar stereo system made up the black leather interior. The exterior of the TT had tinted widows (as did all of their cars), seventeen inch Enkei wheels wrapped in Toyo T-1 Proxes tires. A dual three inch exhaust with a single Magnaflow muffler gave the Audi a very mellow tone that Sean enjoyed a bit too much sometimes. Two weeks previous, Sean had been joyriding with one of his numerous ex-girlfriends when the chippies had pulled them over for doing a hundred and five miles per hour in a seventy mile per hour zone. Sean's mother, a federal agent, hadn't been happy and had complained to his father (a judge). Sean's dad made him pay the fine and had him spend a couple of nights in jail to get him to slow down. Natasha had gotten wind of the deal and when Sean got out of the steel bar motel, she dropped him on desk duty at WOOHP for a few days.

(AN: chippies slang for the CHP. i.e. California Highway Patrol)

On the other side of the Audi was Dominic's car. Unlike the other two cars which were both left-hand drive, D.C. had a right hand drive Mitsubishi FTO that his mom had imported direct from Japan. Like the TT and the Z, the FTO was also modified heavily. On one of their missions to the Land of the Rising Son, Dominic had met up with a couple of guys who ran the Wangan Expressway and once they had found out what kind of car he had, they introduced him to a few of the top tuners who could work miracles on a car. Once back home, Dominic had sent his car to Japan to get it worked on. Unlike J.T. and Sean, Dominic preferred his car to be well-rounded and the modifications done to the 2.5 liter V-6 engine included a twin turbo kit and some serious suspension hardware with a rally-ready set of Ohlins' coilovers. With an interior done up in crème kangaroo leather and a pretty good stereo system, Dominic often cruised by himself with some soothing music coming through the thoroughly done sound system and filtering out through the tinted moonroof when he had it open.

Justin grinned as he remembered some of the things that had been done in their cars over the years as he rolled out the Tigers so they could be washed free of the mud and dirt that had caked on them from their last trail ride. He had just rolled D.C.'s Tiger out when his buddy returned from wherever he had gone. Earlier D.C had come back from the meat store with more meat for the grill. Once the meat had been put on the counter, D.C had gone out again to pick something up that he had been waiting for. Justin watched as the graphite colored Triumph Daytona 675 sport bike was pulled up on the side of the house.

"Hey D.C what's up? You get that package from your father?", asked J.T. as he started running the water into the bucket he was going to use to clean up the Tigers'

"Yeah, got that and a little something extra.", answered D.C. as he took off his graphite colored helmet and placed it on the shelf over where his other two helmets were.

"Oh really, that's cool. What else did you get?"

"That box of .308 Winchester shells came in along with a box containing those three Hi-Point Carbines that boss lady wanted us to test out for our nest mission."

Hearing his friends words, Justin clenched his fist and exclaimed 'yes' in an ecstatic voice. He had come across an ad for the Hi-points in a magazine he had been reading at headquarters during pre-mission isolation and had been badgering Natasha to pick some up for WOOHP. She had demurred at first knowing that Jerry wouldn't particularly approve of such a limited number. However, Natasha had agreed to purchase some if she received some favorable reports on them from an outside source. Grinning inwardly when he heard that, Justin had put in motion a plan to get Dominic to talk to his dad about sending them three carbines to test. He knew how hard it would be to get Dominic to talk to his dad but had made it his business to bug D.C. until he caved in. It had taken three months to wear down D.C.'s refusal to even call his dad about the weapons. When he did cave Justin had eased up since he knew that D.C. and his father had some poisonous feelings between them.

From what he gathered, D.C.'s father had wanted D.C. to take over his family business after college when he retired. Dominic had refused and insisted that his younger sister take over the business. The argument had gotten so explosive that D.C. had stormed out of the house, jumped in his car and sped off. When he didn't show up for church the next day, his frantic family had called Justin and Sean and had begged them to find him before something happened. It took three days before the pair had found their partner holed up at some high class brothel whose owner he knew. When they showed up in the room he was using, D.C. went into a rage and threw empty bottles at them until he was subdued. The next night, D.C. called his partners into his office at the house Natasha had moved them into and informed them what type of business his dad owned. Turns out that their friend Dominic Calvin James was the heir to a family-owned private military corporation with many government contracts, and many enemies.

Nowadays, Dominic communicated with his family a bit more than usual but some things were still strained between them. For their missions, the guys were able to get their hands on any weapon they needed and didn't want to use WOOHP funds. It was a win/win deal according to Natasha and Jerry. WOOHP got the weapons while the family owned PMC didn't have to send their own operatives into such hostile environments and situations.

Dominic was going to comment on J.T.'s enthusiasm when the speakers in the garage clicked on and the opening strains from a familiar tune started. With a quick look at one another, the duo made their way around the side of the house and saw Sean waving to them from the back porch. As they stepped onto the porch, Sean increased the volume of the song playing and placed the remote on the glass topped table and uttered one phrase.

"This song brings back some good memories and bad ones."

D.C. and J.T. nodded as the song 'Bad to the Bone' by Inner Circle poured out from the speakers.

Over at the spies' villa, Alex was just getting out of her shower. She had made it home and related the confrontation with Mandy. As expected, Clover got incensed and vowed to make Mandy pay. Alex had told Clover that if she really wanted to pay her arch rival back then enjoy the cook out and get to know one of Dominic's friends. Then show up at school on Monday and be already acquainted with the new guys. Clover agreed and went to pick out an outfit.

Now wrapped in a towel, Alex padded across the carpet in her room to her dresser and started picking out her undergarments. Once those were chosen, Alex slid into the sleeves of her new blouse and buttoned it up. Leaving the top button undone, she then reached down and slid her legs into the shorts. Once the shorts were on and secured, Alex crossed back over to her closet and picked out a thin leather belt and slid it through the belt loops of the shorts before securing it firmly. Reaching down to the bottom of her closet, Alex picked out some sandals she had that had been rarely worn. Giving herself an appreciative glance in her mirror Alex gave her small silver hoop earrings a flick and watched as they jostled against her skin. Debating whether or not to add a dab of perfume behind her ears, Alex decided not to and replaced the perfume bottle she had picked up. Happy with her appearance at present, she left the room. The door had been closed for only a second before it swung open again and Alex went ahead and got the perfume she had placed back on her vanity table seconds before.

"Oh screw it. If I'm going to do this I need to do it right. If he notices the perfume, he notices.", thought Alex.

Opening the bottle, she put a small amount on a cotton ball and used the cotton to dab behind her ears. Closing the bottle of perfume and discarding the cotton ball, Alex looked at her wrist to check the time. Swearing to herself Alex again left her room and headed downstairs.

Downstairs, Sam and Clover were impatiently waiting for their friend. She was the one who had told them about the cookout and now she was the one making them late. Wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a sleeveless white v-necked shirt, Clover was seated on the couch with one tanned leg crossed over the other idly tapping one shoe clad foot on the ground. Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, Sam also waited for Alex to come down and take them to the cook out. Complementing her red hair, Sam wore a crisp white shirt and a soft red tennis skirt and matching tennis shoes.

When Alex made it downstairs, she took one glance at her friends and nodded approvingly. Before she could say anything Clover asked where the cook out was going to be. Alex gave Clover a mysterious and innocent smile before answering.

"It's pretty close Clover. In fact it's so close we could walk there."

"Oh great, when Alex is trying to be innocent you know something's up. Let me get the car keys.", replied Sam.

Alex ignored the grumbling and went through the front door. Stopping at the end of their walkway, she looked back at her two friends and waited for them to join her. When they did, she indicated a house a short distance up their street where several vehicles had gathered. Hearing gasps of surprise; Alex turned and faced her blonde and red-haired friends.

"See, I told you it was close enough to walk there. Now do you believe me?"

Getting no answer, Alex turned on her heel and started walking towards the house of Dominic and his friends. Within minutes, the trio was walking up the driveway. Music was being played at a reasonable level as they approached and they could see smoke from a grill rising from the backyard. As they got closer to the door, the smell of food being grilled got stronger. Alex could smell steak, chicken, sausage, and fish being grilled and it reminded her of the times when her parents had cooked out in their backyard when she was younger.

Standing in the living room talking to one of the other operatives of their division, D.C. noticed the girls walking up and stepped over to the door to let them in. Alex entered the house with Clover and Sam behind her. Stepping up to Dominic, she waited for him to finish his conversation before introducing her friends.

"Hi Dominic, these are my friends Alex and Clover. I told you I'd bring them."

"So you did. And I see that they are just as attractive as you are.", replied D.C. before turning to Clover and Sam.

Sam and Clover introduced themselves and thanked Dominic for inviting their friend. Once they saw that their host had turned his attention back to Alex, they talked to each other for a second. As was her wont, Clover commented first.

"Ohmigawd, he's hot! Now I know why Alex was in such a rush to get here. If he is that good looking then I can't wait to meet his friends.", exclaimed Clover quietly.

"Yeah, I agree, Alex really did it this time. And to top it off, she said that Dominic and his friends would be starting at Bev High on Monday? I think we've hit the jackpot this time.", returned Sam.

With dreamy looks in their eyes, Clover and Sam followed Dominic as he showed them the way to the backyard where the grill was. Along the way he introduced him to some of the other guests (many of whom knew the girls on sight, but they kept quiet about the knowledge so as not to compromise security). As they were showed around the house, the girls looked at many of the furnishings and decorations with awe and respect. Along one wall through the living room were African tribal masks and spears. Another wall held some well know paintings by different artists. Sam just about drooled when she saw the computer system in the office. D.C. said it belonged to his friend Justin.

"At the moment, I think J.T. is out on the back porch playing bartender, Sam.", commented D.C.

As the quartet exited the house and entered the backyard, D.C. pointed out his two friends. Getting the attention of his two friends, D.C. waved them over and introduced them to Clover and Sam. The duo said hi to Alex as they strolled up to where D.C. was standing with the girls. The six conversed together for a minute before J.T. and Sean told D.C. that he needed to get back to the grill and turn over the meat and let it finish cooking.

"Oh yeah, the shish kabobs are ready to cook. You can take them out of the pan where they were marinating and go ahead and place them on the grill. Just don't let them cook too long, okay, D.C?", asked Sean.

"Yeah sure I'll take care of it. Why don't y'all go ahead and get acquainted. I'll be right with you once I get that done.", replied D.C.

Alex had been watching and saw her chance. During the six way conversation, she had noticed that Clover and Sam had been quite taken by Justin and Sean respectively. As the group split up, she saw her two friends walking with D.C.'s friends and sighed in relief. Sam and J.T. ended up at the bar, while Sean and Clover ended up chatting under the gazebo. Hearing a throat being cleared behind her, she blushed as she remembered that D.C. was still standing next to her. Turning to her object of attention, she read what was on the apron he was wearing to cover his tan cargo shorts and black polo shirt and laughed.

"How original; a 'kiss the chef' apron. Where'd ya get that? No let me guess, J.T. bought it for you?", asked Alex as she followed D.C. back into the kitchen.

"Yeah, how'd you guess?"

"It seems that Justin would do something like that. I take it he is a big practical joker."

"Oh yeah, you'll have to ask him about some of the jokes he's played on Sean and I. Some of them were real big."

Alex watched as D.C. grabbed an empty platter off the counter and headed out towards the big grill sitting on the porch. When he got there, he lifted the lid and started to take some of the steak, fish, and chicken off the grill with the tongs that had been sitting on the shelf beside the grill. When he was finished he turned to Alex.

"Hey, Alex can you do me a favor? Can you take this platter and place it on the serving table over there? That way everyone can come along and fill their plates as they want."

"Sure I can do that. Do you want me to bring the pan holding the shish kabobs here so you can put them on the grill?", asked Alex as she accepted the platter from D.C.

"Yeah, thanks very much. I had almost forgotten those. Our bosslady loves kabobs and I would never live it down if I had forgotten to have some for her."

Alex nodded and headed off with the platter and several people in tow. As he watched her place the hot platter down on the table his nose caught the faint scent of plumeria trailing behind her.

"Hmm, so she put on some perfume. I wasn't expecting that.", mused D.C. before he turned his attention back to the grill all the while fighting the attraction that was slowly starting to filter into his mind the longer he spent in Alex's company.

Across the way in the gazebo, Sean and Clover were having an illuminating conversation of their own. Clover had found out that Sean was on the football team and he had been interested that Clover was one of the cheerleaders. As they chatted on, the pair found that they had several mutual interests. About an hour after she had arrived, Clover asked Sean what kind of part-time job he had. Sean stiffened just a bit but went on with the cover they had agreed on.

"Oh it's nothing really. Dominic, J.T., and I are all motorcycle couriers when were not in school or at our respective practices. It pays alright. In fact our boss and the company we work for had this house bought for us when we moved up here.", answered Sean.

Clover was about to ask more but at that moment her stomach growled. Blushing heavily, she quickly apologized but Sean told her not to worry about it. He was getting hungry as well.

"This always happens when D.C. uses the grill. Why don't we go ahead and get some food and something to drink?"

"Okay, that sounds like a wonderful idea. What do you recommend?", asked Clover.

Sean smiled and told her what he recommended as they approached the serving table. Choosing for both of them, Sean filled up to plates and walked back over to the gazebo. On the way over, he and Clover stopped at the bar in order to grab a bottle of juice. While they waited for J.T. to bring their drinks, Sean and Clover talked with Sam as she sat at one of the barstools. Clover could tell just from listening to the way Sam talked that she and J.T. had hit it off real well.

"In fact, he's taking me to my favorite museum on Wednesday.", gushed Sam.

"Getting an early start, Sam?", joked Clover.

"No, I just wanted to show him around Bev Hills and what better place to start than with some of my favorite sites.", retorted Sam as she fiddled with her napkin.

Clover let Sam off the hook but not before she saw the faint blush that had showed up on Sam's cheeks. She too had felt like asking Sean out to show him the city but had waited because she wasn't sure. Now with Sam having gone ahead and opened the door on the subject, Clover waited for J.T. and Sean to return and asked him if he had gotten to see the city yet.

"No, not yet. We've only been here a short time and most of that has been work related and moving into this house. Last night was the first time we had even gotten a chance to go out at all.", answered Sean as he took a bite of his steak.

"Oh, I see. I got a question. Since you just moved into the house and spent your first night here last night. How long had you been in the city and where had you been staying?"

"Dominic, Justin, and I have been in the city for about two weeks now. We'd been staying at a hotel for a bit but our boss let us crash at her place this last week so we could start some semblance of household living."

Sam and Clover nodded. It was the same thing that J.T had told Sam. After a few minutes of mutual conversation, Clover and Sean walked off. Sean was going to show Clover around the house. Taking a sip of her drink, Sam leaned back against the bar. Shifting her attention over towards the grill, she saw Alex and D.C. chatting to themselves as he cooked. Continuing her look around, Sam's attention was captured by an older dark-haired lady wearing a tank top and a pair of grey shorts stretched out on one of the chaise lounges with a pair of designer shades covering her eyes and looking in her direction. Sam didn't remember meeting her before and wondered who she was. Nonchalantly studying the woman as she took another sip from her drink it soon became apparent to Sam that the woman she was watching as also watching her and how she acted around J.T.

"I wonder who that is, she sure seems intent about something.", mused Sam as she shifted her attention elsewhere.

Putting the studious woman out of her mind, Sam turned her attention back to the guy standing behind the bar. Across the way, the woman who had been studying Sam (and to a lesser intent, also studying Clover and Alex), rose from her seat and made her way towards the serving table. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that D.C. was laughing at something Alex had said.

Shaking her head at the resilience of youth, Natasha let her worries fade away. It was time for her boys to start getting active social lives again and these three girls could be a means to that end. It helped that all six teenagers were a part of the same organization.

Back at the grill, Alex was enjoying her time with Dominic. Standing next to him, she had been able to filch bites of everything he prepared. Her taste buds had watered as the explosion of flavors and seasonings met her palate and left her wanting more. D.C. had even gone on and let her cook some of the last few steaks and burgers that were now sitting on the serving table. He had helped when she requested it but all in all, D.C. had let her do some of the grilling on her own.

"Soon you'll be almost as good as me when it comes to cooking on a grill.", D.C. teased.

"Almost, heck I'm nowhere near your level of expertise. However if it comes down to cooking in the kitchen, I bet I can cook rings around you.", she shot back easily.

"Maybe you are and maybe you aren't. You haven't tasted my kitchen cooking yet."

Alex laughed then shifted the conversation about her learning more about how to cook on a grill. D.C. chuckled again as he turned a chicken breast over and sprinkled some more seasonings on it from the bottle on the counter next to the grill. Replacing the bottle, she watched as he reached down and picked up a bowl full of barbeque sauce that he had doctored up with brown sugar and other things and proceeded to dab the sauce on to the chicken with the rush that sat in the bowl. Accepting the bowl as he passed it to her and then basting a couple of the big hamburgers with it, Alex sighed in happiness.

"Maybe next time you cook out, you can give me a few private lessons in grill mastery.", Alex said coyly.

She saw in his eyes that D.C. got the insinuation and at first seemed a bit uncomfortable about it. But after an inner battle she could see waging behind his eyes, he shrugged and didn't discount the possibility. Alex was about to comment more on it but she was interrupted as Sean and Clover made their way over towards them. Sean turned his attention to D.C. and the two held a quick conversation about lighting the tiki torches scattered around the backyard.

"Yeah, go ahead, since it's starting to get dark. Change the music up a bit and replace some of the fast paced stuff with something slower. Before you light the three torches around the gazebo make sure you lower the screens so that the smoke doesn't disturb those sitting out there.", stated Dominic.

"Sure no problem, I'll take care of it. You want me to tell J.T. to start shutting down the bar? I mean, once those torches are lit, I don't think our guests will want dead insects falling into their glasses.", asked Sean as he leaned against the counter on the other side of the grill.

"That sounds like a plan. Light the torches by the hammocks first. That should give those guests using the hammocks a chance to avoid being bitten by insects. Oh yeah, I take it you've seen the bosslady hanging around."

"Hell, you'd have to be blind to not see her. She's the only woman out here without a date. Think she has a job for us?", asked Sean softly as he shifted his attention to the lady in question.

Dominic shook his head and gave an imperceptible hand sign with his hands to let his friend know not to bring up that subject while the girls were around. With a quick glance at Alex and Clover locked in their own conversation he felt a tinge of relief as he saw that neither girl had heard Sean's words. Looking over towards the bar where Justin was looking at him as Sam chatted with the couple next to her, D.C. saw his friend raise a hand and indicate where Natasha was stretched out enjoying her novel. He nodded imperceptibly to let J.T. know that both he and Sean had seen her. Dominic also knew that Natasha had seen the hand signals passed between her operatives and was letting it pass as if they weren't important.

Sending his attention back to the patio chairs where Alex and Clover were still talking, Dominic chuckled to himself and turned his attention back to the food on the grill. He was working on the last group of food to be cooked and he would be glad when he finished. He hadn't eaten yet and was getting hungry. Fortified by bottles of water and glasses of juice, D.C. smelled the aroma of his steaks and looked ahead to the moment when he could tear into one himself. Grinning at Sean as they stood in silence, D.C. raised his empty hand up to his collar mimed a wiping off movement. Sean was puzzled at first then he realized that D.C was informing him that there was a faint spot of pink liptick smeared there. Hastily grabbing a napkin and dunking it in the glass of water, he franticly rubbed at the spot as D.C. guffawed.

Hearing the loud laughter from Dominic, Alex looked over at the two guys and saw that a spot of embarrassment had popped up on his cheeks as he rubbed at something on his shirt collar with a damp napkin. Casting a look at Clover and raising an inquisitive eyebrow, Alex quickly figured out what had happened.

"Jeez Clover, you move quickly."

"Oh be quiet Alex. It was an accident. As he was showing me around the house, I slipped and fell. He caught me just as my face connected with his shoulder.", retorted Clover.

"Mmmhmm, and I suppose that the lipstick you are wearing now appeared on your lips as if by magic?"

Clover's blue eyes flashed in a quick burst of anger and Alex let it slide. She didn't want to ruin a good day. After some more conversation, Alex watched as Sean and Clover went inside to change the music for the stereo system. Within minutes of the pair entering the house, the mellow sounds of John Legend floated out into the backyard. Looking at D.C. as the glow of the setting sun softened his brown skin; Alex saw that the music was relaxing him more and more. Observing the other guests she saw that they were also relaxing as the music swirled around the yard carried by the air currents that flowed around the yard. Wrapping her arms around her left knee, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to tune in to the music. Soon she found herself loosing up and tension flowing out of her body as it was carried away by the music.

While everybody inside the house and those gathered around the backyard relaxed with the onset of dusk, there was a car parked a couple of houses away. Inside the car sat Mandy and her two henchwomen. Ever since her spy had reported back to her about her rivals, Mandy had been driven with an insane jealousy. With the information about the three new high school aged guys moving to Beverly Hills gathered by her other sources, Mandy could put two and two together and figured out what Alex had been hiding. Mandy also knew that if Alex knew about the guys, then Clover most definitely knew and would take any advantage in their eternal competition.

Grinding her teeth together in frustration, Mandy waited impatiently in her families' Benz so that she could make her move when the opportunity presented itself. Over the past couple of hours, she had smelled the aroma from the food and her stomach had growled indicating its displeasure with her sit and wait strategy. Looking through a pair of high powered binoculars, Mandy had spotted Clover being shown through the house and her ire had grown. The guy Clover had been with had been a mega-cutie.

"If Clover thinks that this new guy is going to help her gain more popularity points at school, she has another thing coming. Give me enough time and I'll have him wrapped around my finger.", Mandy thought as she and her friends continued to sit in the car.

Mandy's stakeout hadn't gone unnoticed by some of the off-duty agents at the cookout and word had been passed on from agent to agent till it got back to Dominic, Justin, and Sean. At the moment, the trio was sitting on the back porch talking to each other while they waited for Alex and her two friends to return from freshening up. The conversation was innocuous and flitted from topic to topic. However underneath the rambling conversation was another covert conversation going on. With the ease of long practice and the familiarity with each other; D.C., J.T., and Sean could pass information among each other right under an enemy's nose.

Looking around at some of their remaining guests, D.C. was asking an innocent question of Sean while J.T. listened intently.

"So Sean you think that a Benz could outrun a Volvo? I think you may be mistaken my friend. Even though the Benzino has two extra cylinders, it also has a few extra hundred pounds to haul around. In the interim, a Volvo is three times as safe as the Mercedes and a hell of a lot safer than any domestic car on the road today."

"The Volvo maybe safer, D.C. but I think more people prefer the Mercedes. Look around you, here in this city there are five times as many Benzes than Volvo's. We aren't going to even talk about the Beemers sprinting around town.", Sean cut in.

"Ahh, BMW's a real driver's car. Forget the 3 Series. The 5 Series BMW's are where it's at. Even the M5 Beemers are a penny a dozen around here. If you had a Benz, a 'Vo, and a Beemer gathered in one place D.C. what would you do?"

D.C. thought for a moment before answering Justin.

"I'd take the Volvo and pull up beside the Benz and give its driver a big smile and tell her that I paid thousands less for more quality. I'd leave the BMW alone because I know that it could outrun me even if I tried."

Justin and Sean laughed hard at the absurd statement before turning their attention to each other and changing the subject. Behind them, Dominic could see another agent giving them a non-verbal update on the car down the street. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, D.C got up and strolled into the house. Traveling through the kitchen and dining room into the living room, he made his way to a window that would give him a view of the street. Seeing the car in question he wondered what he should do. Feeling a tap on his shoulder he turned around and saw Alex. Getting an idea, he pointed out to the car and asked her about it.

Alex had finished washing her hands and had exited the restroom. Going outside, she didn't see D.C and had asked Justin and Sean of his whereabouts. When they told her where she could find him, Alex had gone searching and had found him staring out the window. Tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention, Alex was about to suggest they return to the backyard when he asked her about a car parked on the street. Glancing in the direction he indicated, it took her a minute to recognize the car and -more importantly - the driver. D.C watched as Alex's face went from confusion to anger in the space of two seconds.

"Dammit, it's Mandy. I knew she had let me off the hook too easily this morning at The Groove. She must've had one of her lackeys' follow me home then called Mandy when the three of us came here.", sputtered Alex.

"Ignore her for now, Alex. She's not causing any problems as of yet. Why don't we return to the backyard? I'm still hungry and there's a steak and a couple of cheeseburgers and sausages with my name on them. I want to go ahead and eat before they get cold.", stated D.C. as he deftly turned Alex around and headed back towards the gathering out back.

Alex followed reluctantly but she was still fuming at Mandy's brashness. As she walked back towards the other guests out back she knew that she had to get to talk to her two friends so they could figure out how to get through this dilemma. When D.C. opened the sliding glass door to the backyard and let her go through first, she absently thanked him before continuing her mental mulling. Behind her D.C. was formulating a plan of his own. As he stepped through the door and shut it behind him he allowed Alex to get a few steps ahead and waved over one of the female agents scattered around the backyard. As he waited, Dominic glanced idly about and saw that J.T. and Sam had taken over two of the lounges and were now stretched out watching the stars, listening to the music, and finishing dinner. Continuing his with his roving eyes, Dominic also saw that Clover had managed to convince Sean to join her in the gazebo. When the agent reached him, he gave her some cursory instructions about the car out front and waited for the action to begin.

Out front Mandy was still observing the guests when she saw another woman heading their way. At first she brushed it off as another departing guest. However, when the lady in question made her way over to her car and tapped on the window Mandy rolled it down and rudely asked what she wanted.

"Ma'am, it's my duty to inform you that you have been invited inside by the residents. They were a tad bit worried about you and asked me to let you know that there is some food and drink if you want it. Have a good evening."

Mandy grumbled and was about to turn the lady down when her stomach growled, much to her dismay. Deciding that just this once she could allow herself to mingle with those of a lower status than herself, Mandy opened the door and climbed out. Her two friends got out of the car as well and together they followed the woman in the dark sunglasses. As they approached one of the side gates, D.C. was there to greet them and introduce himself. Politely introducing herself and her two friends, Mandy gazed about and spotted her arch rival sitting in the gazebo with the guy she had been touring the house with earlier.

By, D.C.'s count it took all of two minutes for the appearance of Mandy to register with the spies. Of the three, Clover was the most vocal about her arrival. As usual whenever Clover and Mandy got in close proximity to each other, the taunts and insults began and flew like wildfire. D.C. was willing to let it go on for a bit longer when he caught the disapproving glare from Natasha and intervened. Escorting Mandy and her two friends to the serving table, he told them to eat whatever they chose and to have as much as they wanted. As their rivals filled their plates and sat down to eat, Clover, Alex, and Sam were discussing the sudden turn of events among each other.

"At least J.T. and I will have been on one date before Mandy tries to sink her claws into him. Same goes for you and Sean, right Clover?", asked Sam as she took a bite from the shish kabob she had snatched from under Mandy's fingers.

"That's true, Sam. I was hoping to keep Sean under wraps until this coming weekend but I guess that I'm gonna have to act fast before the snake gets a chance to figure him out. Unfortunately Mandy and I are both cheerleaders and with Sean being on the football team, that's going to make things much harder. What about you Alex, have you set up a date with D.C. yet? I hope you have because if you haven't and Mandy finds that out, she or one of her friends is going to make a play for him and leave you out in the cold.", retorted Clover.

Alex turned a slight shade of red and tried to form a reply. Not coming up with one, she just shook her head and much to her chagrin, her two friends groaned at Alex for not at least setting something up. Wondering about D.C.'s reaction, Alex turned around and saw him watching her with an inquisitive look on his face. Next to him stood his two partners who looked a bit confused at the recent outbursts. Alex was about to say something when a heavily accented voice called out to D.C. from a location off to her right. Rotating in that direction, Alex saw the woman referred to as his boss calling D.C. and his two friends over for some reason.

Dominic had heard Natasha call out to him and had stiffened up. Next to him he could sense that J.T. and Sean had done the same. Making their way towards Natasha, he diverted towards Alex. Approaching her, he leaned down and muttered something in her ear. Feeling the heat from her smile as he backed away, Dominic turned and continued towards the head of the 'Dirty Little Jobs' Department of WOOHP. Before either of them could say anything, Natasha quietly lit into Dominic for doing something rash like he did. Listening to her operatives as they accepted her words without any excuse, she came to the reason for calling them over.

"You three got a mission tomorrow. It consists of a hit and get with a cosh and carry. I'll email the files on the targets when I get home tonight. This is a rush job but J-Dawg is allowing time for you to go to church tomorrow morning. After church, report to the airfield where you insertion ride will be waiting. As usual it's your choice of weapons, but choose wisely and not leave anything that could point to our organization. Review the files tonight until they are memorized. Once memorized, you know what to do with the files. When the operation is over, activate your locator and we'll send a team to extract you from the field. This job should go over easy and you should be home by late tomorrow night.", stated Natasha.

The three assassins nodded as one. Asking a few questions of their boss, they got the gist of the needed information and knew that more in-depth would be waiting on their computer a bit later tonight. As they turned to leave, their boss ordered them to report to headquarters on Monday after class for cross training with Jerry's spies. Neglecting to tell them exactly who their training partners would be for the session on Monday, Natasha bugged Sean about dessert before heading back to her perch in one of the hammocks.

Returning to their guests, Dominic and his friends sat at the table, each across from one of the girls. Just as he placed his plate on the glass top, Mandy slid into one of the vacant chairs next to Sean much to Clover's dismay. Before she could say anything, Sam cast a baleful glance her way and cautioned her to not start anything. Slipping into his seat next to Alex, D.C. could see the tension that was crackling in the air as the six girls stared daggers at each other while trying to keep their smiles in place. Sighing to himself and hoping nothing happened to ruin the still warm steak waiting for him, D.C. made some changes in the seating arrangements that suited everybody. Within minutes the tension had eased a bit and the nine teenagers were able to enjoy themselves a bit better. Or at least three of them were. There was still a lower level of tension between the six females but they acknowledged it and moved on.

An hour later the sun had gone down and the yard was lit by the flickering tiki torches, the three hosts announced that dessert would be served after the remaining food was put up. Alex and her two friends volunteered to help put the food away and packing some up for other guests to take home. At the same time, Mandy checked her watch and begged off of dessert saying that she had to get home. Clover snorted and was about to comment when Sam stepped on her foot. Dominic, Sean, and Justin refused to let Mandy and her two friends go until after they had tried at least one piece from the four cheesecakes Sean had made. Once that was done, Mandy and her friends made their exit.

Once Mandy and her two followers had left, Clover, Alex, and Sam loosened up to pre-Mandy's arrival levels and were once again enjoying the night air. Now the girls and their chosen ones were scattered around the backyard. Justin and Sam were playing a game of chess in the gazebo, Sean and Clover were swinging in two hammocks that were close together and talking about some of their interests, while Dominic and Alex were still at the table on the patio basking in the night air and eating some more cheesecake.

D.C. had taken off his apron and hung it up in the garage where it could be washed. Now he sat in one of the cushioned chairs and sighed in relief as he lifted his feet up. Leaning back in her chase lounge, Alex watched as the guy wearing the tan cargo shorts and a black polo shirt rested. For the first time she noticed the logo on the shirt.

"Hi-Point, what kind of fashion company is that?", she asked.

D.C. tensed imperceptibly but let it go. He actually had no desire to explain that through his father, He and his friend were members of an exhibition shooting team. Wondering how he could explain he, his mind hit up on a simple strategy.

"Oh it's not a fashion company per se. I got this shirt from my dad. He and my mom are members of an exclusive club that doesn't advertise. Both Sean and J.T.'s parents are members of the same club. Since we're teenagers, our parents set us up as junior and part time members. It's of no consequence though. Sometimes we can never make the club get-togethers.", he answered, embellishing the truth a bit.

"I see, do you think my friends and I could join this club sometime later?"

"I dunno but I can find out. I'll just have to get in touch with my dad. Or better yet. Sean could get in touch with his parents. They could give us a quicker answer. Mr. and Mrs. Lyons are a bit more active in the club than my parents are."

Alex nodded and stretched her arms up over her head before crossing them behind her head and looking up as the stars glimmered in the night sky. Lapsing into a comfortable silence the pair relaxed to the music playing at low volume over the yard speakers. A couple of hours later; only Dominic, Sean, J.T., Clover, Alex, Sam, and a few others were left. Other than the six teenagers, the few guests left were heading towards their cars for the long ride home. As the guys cleaned up the remnants of trash on the patio, the girls were washing dishes and cleaning up the kitchen.

D.C. was putting out the last few tiki torches after spraying the grill with a cleaner that he planned to leave on overnight. Justin was finishing up his cleaning in the bar area and taking glasses into the kitchen for Sam and Clover to wash. Sean had just finished with sweeping up the trash on the patio and was taking the full bags of trash out to the garbage cans. Alex was wiping down the serving tables and food preparation area with a hot towel and some cleaner. When he finished with the torches, D.C. got J.T. and Sean to walk their sport bikes back into the garage. The gold Suzuki GSX-R 750 and the red Yamaha R6 were returned to their parking spot on the small covered porch for the game room on the side of the house. D.C. had put his Daytona 675 there earlier.

When everything was finished, Sam conversed with Clover and Alex and decided that it was time for them to return to their villa and get some rest. The girls thanked Dominic for inviting them and let him know that they had enjoyed their evening and the food. Even with Mandy's appearance Clover called it a good day. Looking at the time on the clock for the microwave oven, Dominic volunteered his friends and himself to walk the girls' home. Even though they only lived a few houses down, he explained that the guys would feel a bit safer with walking them home. Sam was about to turn down the request but Alex cut in and said that she would love it if they did. Besides, Alex thought that she could walk slowly and extend her time with Dominic.

"Alright, that sounds like a plan. Give us a minute and we'll be right there.", commented Sean.

Sam relented and guided her two friends towards the door. When they stepped out of the kitchen, D.C. looked at J.T. and nodded. Justin returned the nod stepped from the kitchen into another hallway. Stopping at a closet, he opened the door, reached up to the top shelf and pulled down three small carry packs. Tossing one to Sean and the other to D.C., J.T. unzipped his just enough to verify what was in the pack before untucking his shirt and strapping his pack around his waist and slid it around to his strong side. Sean and Dominic did the same and with one last glance at each other the trio made their way to the front door where Sam and friends were waiting.

When they left the house, each girl ended up walking with the guy who had been with her most of the day. Twenty minutes after leaving the house, the six teenagers were strolling up the driveway to the spies' villa. Sam and J.T. were the first to the door and continued their conversation in the time it took for Sam to unlock the villa door. Since Sam had the key, she was the first to walk inside. After shaking Justin's hand and reconfirming their date for later the coming week, Sam unlocked the door and stepped inside. Before stepping completely in the foyer of the villa, Sam turned and kissed J.T. on the cheek and thanked him again for a wonderful evening.

"No problem Sam. Don't forget I'm picking you up on Wednesday after class and you can show me around this city of yours. Take it easy and have a good night.", said J.T. as he stepped down and allowed Clover and Sean to walk up.

With one last wave, J.T. let Sean and Clover have the porch and made his way to the sidewalk. Passing D.C. and Alex, he caught the look in his friends' eyes and nodded once. Out on the sidewalk, Justin casually slipped the thumb of his right hand through one of his belt loops, positioning his hand closer to what sat in the unzipped small pack. While Clover and Sean said their goodbyes, Justin watched the street with hooded eyes.

On the porch, Clover was finishing up describing some of her favorite places around town. Making sure to remind him of his promise, Clover told him that she would be ready.

"Hehehe okay Clover. We've already set plans for you to show me around town on Wednesday after football practice. Just give me a bit of time to run home shower and grab my car. I'll pick you up at eight and we can tour this city you so love."

Once Clover disappeared inside the house after the de rigueur chaste kiss on her hand (Clover would have preferred him to kiss her lips but she let it slide. There would be many more chances for those kisses later that week), Sean made his way down the driveway and stood next to Justin. Both were standing casually and having a conversation but a professional would have seen that neither guy was looking at the other as they made small talk. If they were observing the teenagers, a professional would have noticed the hard glint in the eyes of J.T. and Sean as they covered their partners back.

Now that they were somewhat alone, Alex was racking her brain trying to come up with a way to extend the night a bit more short of inviting him in for coffee. She knew that Sam and Clover wanted to gossip about the day and about the guys. Alex figured that neither of her friends would appreciate the presence of a male in the house while they sat around in pajamas and gossiped back and forth. Some of Clover's stuff was downright revealing and occasionally Alex was embarrassed by some of Clover's things.

During the walk to the villa, Alex had on separate occasions been on the verge of asking D.C. out. Yet each time the subject started to come up in their conversations, she managed to change the topic and send the conversation off in a different direction to combat her nervousness.

"Crap, I can't even approach the subject of a date without getting flustered and scared he would turn me down. Come one think of something else to keep the conversation alive till you get around to asking him out, girl.", tormented Alex's inner mind.

For his part, D.C. was wondering why Alex hadn't broached the question he knew she wanted to ask. He had already heard from J.T. and Sean about their dates later this week and was wondering if Alex was ever going to ask. As they had approached the doorway, D.C. figured that if he wanted the question asked, he was going to do it himself. However, Alex was frustrating him with her constant subject changes when the topic came up. Listening to another of her flimsy changes of topic, D.C. sighed and decided to go ahead and put the subject out there. Cutting her off with a wave of his hand, Dominic bulled ahead.

"Alex, I get the feeling that there is something you want to ask me. However, it seems that each time the subject comes up you change the topic. I don't know if you're scared to ask or are just trying to find another way to approach it. Since you seem a bit nervous about it, I'm going to stop dancing around the issue and ask you straight out: Since I just moved here and haven't gotten around to seeing the sights do you think we can meet up somewhere so you can show me around?"

Stunned for a moment, Alex didn't know what to say. When his words registered Alex knew that there could only be one answer to his question and her heart started to pound as she prepared to answer.

"Yes, I think we could do that."

"Good, I'll pick you up Thursday evening around seven thirty or so."

"I'll be ready on Thursday."

"Good I expect for you to show me your city the way you want me to see it."

Alex nodded as her heart pounded within her chest as D.C.' calm voice reverberated within her eardrums. She felt an inner peace that she had rarely felt before. Before she knew it, Alex was lifting herself up on her toes and gently kissing D.C.'s soft lips. As she pulled away from the moment of touch, she felt him brush her lips with the rough surface of his thumb before letting her go and turning towards his two friends standing alertly at the end of the driveway. Footsteps lighter than air carried her into the villa where she watched as D.C. turned and watched her close the door.

As the door was closing, Alex saw D.C. raise a hand in farewell before the thick door took him out of her sight. Turning to face the foyer, Alex sighed and leaned her back against the door. Crossing her arms over her chest, and hugging herself tightly, she saw that Clover and Sam had already changed into their pajamas and were peeking around the corner from the entryway to the kitchen. With a laugh of delight, she made her way over to her two friends. Stepping into the kitchen Alex saw that the five gallon bucket of ice cream was already opened and sitting on the table waiting for them to dive right in to the gossip.

Once the door had closed, D.C. turned to his two friends and with a nod, the trio headed back to their own dwelling. Unconsciously slipping into a flying wedge formation with D.C. at tip, each guy shifted is mind to the file that was waiting for them on the computer at home. Without a word spoken between them, the boys made ready for anything that might happen. Once they were home: Justin went and booted up the computer, Dominic secured the doors and set the alarm system, while Sean went to prepare a pot of coffee. They had a hard night of planning coming up and they were going to need every ounce of caffeine they could brew.

"Once we go over the mission files Trigger Zero sent us, I want you two downstairs working getting acquainted with our new ordinance. There are three Hi-Point carbines sitting ready for use down on the basement range. Before we get some rest, we will go through ten magazines of forty caliber ammo apiece to get used to the new weapons. We're taking them with us tomorrow. Everything set up, Justin?"

"Everything's ready, Foxfire Lead."

"Good. Start the file download, Foxfire Drei. We don't have all night."

"Coffee's almost ready.", stated Sean.

"Thank god for that Foxfire Deuce. It looks like we'll need it."

The computer chirruped that its information download was complete and the three teenaged assassins bent down to study the file.

Back up the road at the spies' villa, Alex, Sam, and Clover had talked for a couple of hours and the five gallon tub of Rocky Road Ice Cream had been emptied during the course of the conversation. The trio were wearing either lounging pants or pajamas in a multitude of colors. Alex was licking her spoon clean trying to get the last little bit of ice cream off while Clover and Sam looked on. Both the blonde and the redhead had questioned their friend at length about D.C. and Alex had spilled just about all, including the fact that the idea for her date with D.C. on Thursday being his suggestion instead of hers. She also explained that Dominic had noticed her nervousness and had come up with the idea himself.

"Although the way he put it made it seem like I had suggested it.", finished Alex as she dropped her spoon in the empty plastic container.

"Interesting, very interesting, it seems that D.C. is pretty good with words. I wonder how good he would do against me. Did you find out which classes he was planning on taking, Alex?", asked Sam.

"No, not yet, we hadn't gotten to that part of the conversation yet. We were still in the 'get to know you a bit better' phase. I do know that he will be joining the Beverly High Men's Soccer Team when tryouts come up. I wonder what school he played for last year.", stated Alex as she propped her legs on the counter and leaned back in her seat.

Sitting on the breakfast counter with her legs crossed, Clover planted a fist under hear chin and leaned on it. Sean had told her what school the guys had attended before they moved but now she couldn't remember it. Thinking back for a moment, she remembered that Sean said he had played football for his school against Bev High last year. As a cheerleader, Clover had been to the majority of the football games the year previous except for the ones where she and her friends had been shanghaied by Jerry for missions. She remembered that the team's win-loss record and opponents were printed on the page next to where the football team picture was in the yearbook. Thinking quickly she told Sam and Alex to wait for her.

"I'll be right back. If his school played against ours last year, the school name would be in the yearbook. Gimme a minute or three.", said Clover as she dashed off to her room to fetch her yearbook.

Clover was back in two minutes and by the time she made it to the counter, she had the thick hardback book opened to the 'Extracurricular Activities' section. Flipping the pages until she reached the pages she wanted, Clover laid the book down on the counter. The page visible was the page she had been searching for and she glanced at the Beverly High Football schedule, scores, and opponents from the previous year. Running her finger down the list of names, Clover stopped on the one she thought was the right one.

"I think this is their previous school. We missed that game because we had that mission to Paris, remember. When we returned Mandy told me about that game. I didn't pay any attention to her at the time because I thought she was being her usual obnoxious self, however, I remember she seemed a bit depressed that Monday following that game.", stated Clover.

Three heads looked down at the name of the school and the score. When she saw the numbers there, Alex whistled in amazement. According to the score printed in the yearbook, Bev High had lost that game 56-24. Lifting her head, Sam thought back to that week. As editor of the school newspaper, she had talked to the reporter and photographer who had been at that game and recalled that the camera-guy had been amazed at the moves the quarterback had made that game. If he wasn't making the Bev High defense look bad with his passes, he was either running them into the ground himself or had his teammates running. She also remembered that the camera guy (Carlos something or other she recalled with a bit more clarity) had even mention that the opposing quarterback had let one of his receivers run a few plays with him setting up as a tight end, one of which lead to a touchdown by the opposing nose tackle after a lateral.

"Clover, didn't Sean say that he had been a quarterback?", asked Sam.

"Yeah, why'd you ask?"

Looking at one of the pictures that was in the yearbook from the season, Sam stretched one of her fingers out and indicated a photo where the quarterback had taken off his helmet and was standing on the sidelines.

"Take a look at that picture and see if you recognize anyone."

Clover looked down and did a double take as the brown hair in the color picture registered. It seems that camera-guy Carlos had been angling for a photo of the Bev High team as they set up for one of the plays that lead to a touchdown in the losing effort. The intense look on Sean's face as he studied the field was a bit hard to reconcile with the usual grin she found out was Sean's normal expression.

Thinking about the football game and now knowing the name of the school the three guys had attended the previous year set Sam to remembering about a game during basketball season that her and her friends had actually made. Flipping a few pages and reaching the section for the basketball team another color photo jumped out at her. Verifying something after checking the basketball schedule and scores, Sam pointed at a picture of J.T. caught in mid-leap as he blocked the shot of one of Beverly High's best basketball players.

"They beat us in basketball that year as well. It wasn't a runaway but it was one of the closest games Bev High had played. I know you remember that game well Clover, one of the other's team's players collided with our cheerleaders while trying to save an out of bounds ball."

"Yeah, he knocked Mandy over just as she turned. He helped her up afterwards and even came over after the game and apologized. ", chuckled Clover as she remember the exasperation and embarrassment on Mandy's face after she hit the ground and was helped up.

Listening to her friends Alex felt a sense of dread. As one of Beverly High's best female soccer players, she remembered taking a road trip with her team to an away game with the guys team where they had lost a hard fought 3 to 2 match that had been played in atrocious weather. It had started raining during the last half of the girls game and by the time the guys started to play, the field had been soggy and in the driving rain players had been sliding all over the place. Alex had remembered the women's game because it had been one of her best. She had scored twice in a four minute period and her team had gone on to win 4 to 3. After taking a shower to wash off the sweat from the game Alex and her teammates had sat in their warm-up suits and watched the guys lose. One of the players for the opposing team had scored the winning goal securing his hat trick for the day.

"Sam, turn to the page for the soccer team. I bet anything that there is a picture of D.C. scoring the game winning goal that day. ", Alex asked.

Casting an odd look at the dark-haired girl sitting to her left, Sam turned to the pages Alex had requested. There, sitting in full color was D.C. shooting from the right side. It wasn't the picture Alex had thought it was but it was still a photo of him scoring. Looking down at the photo credit, Alex saw that her name was the one underneath the picture and sat back and tried to remember where she had been and what she was trying to get a picture of when she took it. Nodding at the memory, Alex thought more about that game.

"Dominic got a yellow card for a rough tackle that game. He wasn't too happy about it and almost got red carded till one of his teammates calmed him down. I remember because it gave our guys an indirect free kick that led to their second goal. Later that year, that team won the state championship for men's soccer while we won it for women's soccer. I bet he is still waiting for his championship ring to come in like I'm waiting for mine. I think that it was his third state championship for his school. In the state championship game, D.C. went all out. He was all over field making plays and keeping the morale of his team up. In the end, the championship game went to penalty kicks after ninety minutes and a 0-0 tie. He won the game with a left footed shot that blew past the goalie into the upper right corner. I believe that kick of his was clocked at close to ninety-five miles an hour.", commented a slightly depressed Alex.

Clover was thinking back to some of the things she had seen in the house as Sean had gave her a tour. When they had stopped in his room for him to grab something out of his closet, she remembered looking at a picture sitting on his dresser. As Sean had come out of his closet, she had asked him about the photo and he had told her that it was a picture of him and his baseball teammates before a game. In the picture Clover had also seen J.T. kneeling in the middle of the first row and D.C. standing in the second row in the right corner with a bat over his shoulder.

"Sam, go to the baseball team pictures. I bet that there is a score there from when Bev High played their high school."

"I don't have to go to that page. I remember that game very well. They had massacred our team something like fifteen to seven. Three of their players hit homeruns and one of them blasted a grand slam over the centerfield fence and bounced the ball off a passing car.", winced Sam as she remembered reporting that game.

"Yeah, I remember that one. Those guys were stealing bases left and right. Their pitcher confounded our best hitters. He had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning when Tommy Kurtzmann hit him in the arm with a ninety-seven mile per hour fastball. Luckily for him he was wearing a forearm guard. It still almost caused a fight though. After the seventh inning, I think they pulled him and moved him over to first base where he nailed our best player in a pickoff attempt.", shudder Clover.

For a moment the three were silent as they thought about that then Alex yawned and stretched. Seeing that the vivacious girl was exhausted, Clover and Sam decided to call it a night as well. After checking to make sure all the doors were locked and all the downstairs lights were off, the trio wearily climbed the stairs toward the second floor. At the landing, they separated with each spy turning towards her own room. With goodnights from Clover and Sam ringing in her ears, Alex turned out her light and let the soft green glow from her nightlight guide her to the full-sized bed in the middle of the room. Tumbling into the softness, Alex reached a hand out and scrabbled for the remote to her stereo on the night table. Pressing the power button, she turned on the music and snuggled herself up in her sheets.

"At least Clover didn't turn the air conditioner on too low tonight. Last night I could have sworn that she was trying to freeze Sam and I.", mused Alex as she yawned again and let her breathing settle into an easy rhythm.

Minutes later the only sound in the villa was the snores of three girls; spies for the top secret international spy agency WOOHP. As Sam, Clover, and Alex slept, they dreamed many things. Soon some of the things they dreamt about would come true and they would see their new neighbors in a new light, light that may or may not cause them to loose their lives for a most compelling reason, and a most surprising future.

And with that sentence I bring to an end the first chapter of my Totally Spies story "Agents and Operatives". I started this story because I wanted to diversify my writing style a bit. I know that I did not catch the personality of Clover, Mandy, Alex, and Sam exactly the way they are portrayed in the show (In fact I think I completely bombed out on that part of my story. Maybe my writing will get better as this story moves along.)

My idea in writing this story is to attempt to put the three protagonists in a situation where they will have to make a devastating choice and the changes they will undergo as the choice is made and the effect is has on their personality's afterwards. Some of you will probably figure out what I am leading to before I finish this story and I hope that you are not disappointed. To those of you who want to wait and see how things end up, please give me a chance and let me know what you think. I accept any and all criticisms as they will help me form this story to the best of my ability.

I bet some of you are wondering why I am mostly focusing on Alex. Well, the reason is that I'm kind of partial to Alex and in some of the episodes I've seen, poor Alex has gotten the raw deal and the wrong end of the stick. In other episodes I know she has been the heroine of the trio but I figure that with where I am going with this story, Alex will be the one most changed by the decision she'll have to make.

As always, all mistakes are mine and I apologize for them. Please enjoy this story. Thank you very much I greatly appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Sincerely yours: Knightewolfe

Knightewolfe's Lair

21 August 2006

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