Hurrah (to be cried with an overly British voice) a sequel of sorts! Well 'tis only a sequel in that if you haven't read 'Exposure' you won't really know Mia's story. Anyways I'm writing this a. because I have two months of nothingness to fill and b. because there seems to be a slight demand for a bit of Blane and Daisy, and I do so like to please. So yes I have been wracking my tiny little mind for some sort of a story and have formed a sort of plan, unfortunately that plan is not quite complete so I'm writing this without really knowing where I'm going – not to put you off or anything. I do know that I'm gonna try and make the whole thing a bit more realistic (who actually gets the changing into a uniform while in a lift thing?) and a little more mature (moving away from SKUL and more to things like terrorists – real world threats). Which may mean that'll it'll end up not very close to the actual show, sorry. I think it's gonna be a bit less action and a bit more relationship than my first fic, to start with at least. I am trying to write in third person and the past tense, a little out of my comfort zone so please bear with me :) OK wow, huge A/N, so what else is there to stay, erm yes, this is a rather long first chapter, they won't all be this long and I can't promise hugely regular updates they may be a little sporadic (love that word) though I'll try not to be. So anyways read, enjoy (hopefully), message me ideas and please review coz it really helps. That's it, *puts hands over face and peeps through fingers* a brand new fic is started.
El x
It was five o'clock on Wednesday afternoon and the four young MI9 agents couldn't be bothered to make their ways home. They'd gone down to HQ after school for a quick chat with Frank, the country had been rather...safe recently and they hadn't properly spoken to their mentor in weeks. After he'd excused himself with a mutter of "Bloody year nines and their spray cans..." the teens had lingered, no real reason to go home. Now Rose sat at one of the computers, idly surfing the MI9's extensive collection of research papers; few but her would find such a pastime enjoyable, but then again there really was few like her. Carrie was also using the MI9 computers, but playing Tetris doesn't quite have the same intellectual merits that Rose's choice of pastime had. Oscar and the newest member of the team, his girlfriend Mia were supposedly doing French homework. Surprisingly the thrill of irregular conjugations hadn't enthralled them and the conversation had drifted slightly,
"So what's the worst injury you've ever got?"
"I broke my leg once, which was pretty painful"
"How did you do it, no let me guess, erm... fall out of a moving vehicle in the middle of a high speed chase? Get it broken by some skul thug as you fought to save the country?"
"No, I fell off the top of a bunk bed and landed awkwardly."
"Oh."
Oscar laughed and shoved his girlfriend lightly, "You really got to stop expecting these dangerous missions out of me, I'm surveillance, I'm supposed to blend into the background."
Suddenly the lift doors slid opened and two figures stepped out. Oscar glanced up, expecting a returning Frank, and so was startled to see two strangers instead. In one fluid movement he got up and placed himself directly in front of Mia. Mia sighed, quite used to her boyfriend's overprotective tendencies by now.
"Who are you?" Oscar demanded, leaving niceties aside. In fairness this was probably justified, strangers breaking into an apparently secure room would put any agent on red alert.
Upon hearing Oscar's question Rose tore her eyes away from the computer screen, and let out a gasp, before answering Oscar's question as she ran over to the strangers an embraced them in succession, saying, "Blane, Daisy!?". Upon hearing the names Oscar and Carrie exchanged glances, recognising them as Rose's previous colleagues.
Having had enough of being hidden behind Oscar's back Mia stepped around him and boldly walked up to the visitors, much to the annoyance of Oscar who was far from trusting when it came to the safety of his girlfriend. She introduced herself a little more formally than Rose, shaking each of their hands in turn and saying, "Hi, I'm Mia". She smiled, and as a few seconds passed, decided to introduce her colleagues as well.
"This is Oscar" upon hearing his name Oscar walked over to greet the newcomers, a look of mistrust still lingering on his face. "He's our-" As Oscar shook Blane's hand, Blane interrupted, "Combat expert, I'm guessing." His tone was friendly but there was a slight hint of challenge in his eyes.
"No, I specialise in surveillance and undercover work actually."
Blane took this in, before laughing, "So you have a girl to do your fighting for you!" This statement earned him an elbow in the ribs from Daisy as she hissed, "Blane!" Blane Whittaker was not overly sexist, however he did hold the belief that fighting was something guys should do; girls could fight, but guys were better. He was perhaps a little surprised by what followed. His left arm was grabbed and pinned painfully behind his back, while at the same time his right arm was taken and pressed against his own neck. Then, as he guessed his attacker was a little shorter than him, he was forced to bend backwards slightly, rendering him completely unable to move let alone fight back. A light, chirpy, yet disturbingly menacing voice whispered in his ear, "Not just any girl, me." As suddenly as she had captured him she released him, took his hand and shook, saying, "I'm Carrie by the way." She smiled sweetly and shook Daisy's hand, quickly diffusing any tension that her actions had caused. Blane was left feeling slightly humiliated, flexing his wrists and muttering something about not being prepared under his breath.
Oscar had pulled up some chairs and Rose now gestured for them to sit. Daisy sat down first, with Blane to the left of her, across from them Carrie, Rose, Oscar and Mia sat in a line, trying to avoid looking in anyway confrontational ... and failing. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Mia, who had become quite brazen since joining the agency, leant forward and asked, "So," she addressed Blane and Daisy, "From Rose's reaction and Oscar and Carrie's glances, you're friends of Rose, previous colleagues, maybe?" Daisy answered with a nod, a little shocked at Mia's keen observational skills. Rose, Carrie and Oscar were not as surprised, reading people had proved to be a talent of Mia's, and was part of the reason why she'd been asked to join the agency. "But what do you guys specialise in, and more importantly, why are you here?"
"And how, that scanner's programmed to only recognise Frank's and our thumbprints?" Oscar couldn't help but ask.
"Well," Daisy began to speak, Blane was still recovering from the hurt to his pride, "I'm a specialist in undercover work, like Oscar," She flashed him a smile and Oscar absentmindedly put his arm around Mia. Guessing the hidden meanings in his action Daisy quickly looked away and, a little flustered, continued speaking, " Blane is our muscle man, as you can probably guess" she rolled her eyes, silently apologising for her colleagues outburst. "As for what we're doing here, well all we've been told is that we're supposed to be working with you, though judging from your reactions, you haven't heard about it and weren't expecting us. Oh and the scanner still had our thumbprints in the memory, we got in the same way we always do, just like you."
"How could the scanner ever forget you Daisy," Rose chuckled, obviously happy to see her friends again. "How have you been, how's training going?
Daisy's eyes were clouded, "Training...? Oh err, well that's not quite right you see-"
She was interrupted by the sound of the lift doors sliding across to reveal Frank deep in conversation with an attractive young woman, dressed in a smart tailored suit and heels, her auburn hair tied neatly in a ponytail.
"Ah team, I see you've already met Blane and Daisy, well this is Ms Beaumont, their mentor. I know this is all rather out of the blue, but I was just as surprised as you, apparently the briefing failed to arrive, some fault in communications, it's a good job you all decided to stay, the matter at hand is quite pressing, but I'll let Ms Beaumont explain." Frank seemed a little flustered as he spoke, causing him to speak much faster and incomprehensibly than usual. The team did not question Frank's apparent distraction, though they did not for one minute assume it had anything to do with a certain rather attractive colleague, Frank was far too much of a professional for that. He turned and facing the woman introduced his agents in turn, "This is Rose, our technical expert" Rose stood and shook the woman's hand muttering "Nice to meet you" as she did so. Frank introduced: Oscar - "Surveillance and undercover technician"; Carrie - "combat expert" and Mia - "Our recent addition, a rather gifted psychoanalysist in training"; similarly and they each shook the woman's hands with equal grace. After this the woman stood and began to speak in a soft voice with an air-hostess-smile pasted on her face, "Well it's lovely to meet you all and I look forward to working with you over the next couple of weeks. Can I start by asking you to call me Christine, Daisy and Blane do, and I'm sure you don't call Frank here Mr London now do you?" The agents shook their head in response, they'd never called Frank Mr London, and were hardly going to refuse the offer of equality, in names at least, from another superior. "So," Christine continues, her smile now even wider that the agents had agreed to her request, " to the mission" It was as if the smiling mother figure of a few moments ago had completely disappeared as Christine took on an altogether more official tone and strode over to one of the computers with confidence. She quickly opened up the mission file on the computer, her perfectly manicured fuchsia talons clacking against the keys, Rose wondered for a moment how she knew the systems password, but was soon more interested in the mission at hand. A photograph of a teenage boy appeared on screen, brown hair slicked to his head he wore an expensive looking suit and smiled lazily for the camera.
"Guillaume Lefevre." Oscar muttered with impeccable pronunciation.
Christine looked slightly startled, and nodded her head vigorously in agreement, "Yes, quite, son of the president of France," she paused to see if Oscar could also provide the answer to this.
"Sébastien Marc Lefevre." Oscar duly supplied.
"Quite the Francophile aren't we?" The retort was sharp and Christine seemed to realise this too late and she quickly let out a slight giggle to cover her frustration.
Oscar merely shrugged, "I like to know what's going on around me, helps me to get into cover better."
Mia, sensing the tension in the room, brought the conversation back on track, "So we've established that this dude is the French president's son, but what has he got to do with us?"
Christine replied "MI9 recently received information from France about a terrorist threat to the country, specifically to the president and his family. For some reason the French authorities are taking this threat very seriously, and while they cannot let the French president go into hiding for political reasons, Sébastien wants his son safe and has requested our help in doing this. The agency has decided to put Guillaume into your care, using the cover of a French exchange student. "
Here Blane interrupted, "Surely if you want him safe you'd just stick him in a safe house with a stack load of security?"
Christine replied, "Ahh well one would think so, however," she made air quotation marks, " sticking him in a safe house with a stack load of security, as you so eloquently put it Blane would make avoiding unwanted terrorist and press attention very difficult. Here if we play on the fact that very few people are quite as aware of French politics as Oscar here, and we dye Guillaume's hair, no one will doubt the story, so publicity can be averted. Also the agency feel this would be less damaging to the boys mental health which the French authorities have asked us to take into due consideration. So to summarise in a week Guillaume Lefevre will arrive at St Hopes as Oscar's pen pal Théodore Rousseau. Blane and Carrie will work together to ensure he has round the clock protection without drawing any attention to your selves. Oscar and Mia will be charged with the responsibility of making sure he is happy – don't forget this mission is key to inter-country relations, we send him back at all disturbed and we have the whole of France to answer to. Rose you need to make sure that his identity remains secret and intercept any form of tracking device sent out by the terrorists. Finally Daisy it will be your responsibility to maintain contact with the French authorities; under cover of course, so that you're identity and therefore location is not given away through an intercepted transmission."
The speech efficiently repressed all questions , all that is but one. Carrie, who after her earlier performance had remained uncharacteristically silent simply asked, "Well that's all well and good, but still, no offence, why the hell are you here?"